Spain is at boiling point as temperatures are set to skyrocket to 28C sparking fears for the year ahead.
Temperatures are due to rise in the southern regions of the country at a time when they are normally much cooler. According to Diario de Ibiza, temperatures are normally meant to be at around 20C.
Furthermore, Aemet said some areas such as Murcia could see temperatures up to 14 degrees above what they should be for the city in January. Temperatures of around 25C are also predicted for Alicante and Granada.
As a result, weather records for January are expected to be broken when the region experiences temperatures normally seen at the peak of the UK’s summer.
It isn’t just the southern areas that will be affected, northern Spain will also see much higher temperatures around eight to 10 degrees above average in the Pyrenees, Teruel, Andalusia, and Castellon.
In a statement on social media platform X, Aemet warned that temperatures would remain “noticeably above normal” next week and be “more typical of the month of March”. They also warned of “interior fog” hitting the peninsula.
Speaking to SUR in English, spokesperson for Aemet Cayetano Torres said coastal fog will also join the higher-than-average temperatures in some places.
This strange phenomenon of unusually high January temperatures could last for the rest of the month and even into the beginning of February. The skyrocketing temperatures this early in the year have also raised some concerns about the impact of climate change.
Last year, Spain was one of several European countries that bore the brunt of a series of heatwaves which saw temperatures consistently rise above 40C causing drought and issues for farmers. In a statement, Greenpeace Spain warned the country’s emissions had exacerbated the issue.
Following the release of a report on climate change by the University of Exeter they said: “Projections indicate that if Spain does not cut severely the emissions that cause global warming, the country will become hotter, drier, more arid and flammable.
“It will experience more floods and high-intensity fires and the impacts of sea-level rise. The data in the report shows the urgency of cutting emissions and tackling the climate crisis by taking ambitious measures, to which all political parties must commit.”
