After an extraordinary period of record-breaking heat, Spain and much of Europe are bracing for a radical change in climate. According to the AEMET (State Meteorological Agency), the Pilar bridge will be a before and after. Finally, the abnormally high temperatures will end and the arrival of rain will begin.
The meteorological change is planned for the next few days. Until now, a subtropical ridge has kept storms and the fronts that accompanied them at bay. But that is about to change. These systems will approach the Iberian Peninsula, giving way to more autumnal conditions. In fact, the first signs of this change will be evident between Thursday, October 12 and Friday, October 13, when the arrival of the first front is expected.
For those who were hoping for rain, there is good news. Between Sunday and Tuesday of next week, two storms with subtropical characteristics will approach the west of the peninsula. These systems will direct a large atmospheric river towards the Iberian Peninsula, bringing almost widespread and abundant precipitation, especially on the Atlantic slope and other areas well oriented to these humid flows.
According to the AEMET, the northwest of the country will begin to experience thermal relief on Friday, which will extend to other areas of Spain over the weekend. This decrease will be especially noticeable in the interior and northern half of the peninsula, even with the possibility of snowfall in high areas of the Pyrenees.
However, those who are in the Levant or the Balearic Islands should not put away their shorts just yet. The west wind can cause temperatures to exceed 30ºC in some areas. For residents in the Canary Islands, affected by an extreme heat wave, thermal relief will take longer to arrive.
In the longer term, climate models suggest the possible formation of an anticyclonic block in the Scandinavian region. If this were to happen, the storms and cold air masses could move southward, maintaining a certain instability in Spain's climate and opening the door to future episodes of cold and snowfall in mountainous areas.
