The heat wave, which subsides this Wednesday, reached its maximum values last Monday, with temperatures close to 45ºC in Loja (Granada) and 44ºC in numerous points in the southern third of the peninsula, according to the State Meteorological Agency (Aemet ). It will be followed by a few days of "swings" in temperatures, according to Rubén del Campo, Aemet spokesman, adding that, although they are expected to continue to be high during the second half of this week, they are not expected to exceed the thresholds of the wave of heat.
The 44.6ºC reached by Loja represent the highest temperature reached in the country so far this year. They are followed by the 44.5ºC of Villarrobledo (Albacete); the 44.4ºC of Montoro (Córdoba), the 44.2ºC of the base of the Granada airport, and the 44.0ºC of the Córdoba airport. All these values were given on Monday, the day the heat wave began.
"Although the heat wave thresholds may not be exceeded during the second half of the week, we will continue to talk about high temperatures, intense heat in a large part of the country, but especially in the east and south of the peninsula," summarizes the Campo Almería and Murcia could reach 45ºC this Wednesday, and Málaga, 42ºC.
The current heat wave has broken historical records for maximum temperatures in July in Albacete and Daroca (Zaragoza), according to data from the network of nearly 800 stations of the State Meteorological Agency (Aemet), collected by Servimedia.
On Tuesday, the Albacete air base reached 42.9ºC, which is 0.3 more than the previous record for the hottest day in July in that place, which occurred on July 17, 1978. In addition, the Zaragoza municipality of Daroca also reached 40.6ºC on Tuesday, which is 0.9 more than on July 20, 1995, which until then was the warmest day of this month in that place (in both cases, since historical record).
On Thursday, temperatures will drop in the Valencian Community, Murcia and Eastern Andalusia, while they will rise in the west. Temperatures will exceed 35ºC in much of the center and south of the peninsula, and 40ºC in the Guadalquivir valley. It could also exceed 40ºC or 42ºC in some points in the interior of Gran Canaria.
On Friday the greatest increase will be in the north of the peninsula, especially in the Basque Country and Navarra, where they could be 10 degrees higher than on Thursday, with highs of 36ºC and 38ºC. Although not so markedly, temperatures will also rise in the rest of the peninsula except in the Andalusian Mediterranean, where they will drop due to the effect of the breezes; the same will happen in the Canary Islands.
On Saturday there will be a drop in temperatures in most of the country, except in the far east, where temperatures will rise. On Sunday, the case will be just the opposite: a drop in temperatures in the far east and an increase in the rest.
This ups and downs will be caused by the arrival of a fresh air mass from the Atlantic, which on Saturday will reach the Mediterranean preheated and which on Sunday will tend to blow from the east. Consequently, 35ºC will be exceeded again in the Ebro valley and in a good part of the center and south of the peninsula, and 38 or 40 degrees in the Guadalquivir valley and points in eastern Andalusia.
