Spain will have summer temperatures this week. This has been warned by the Meteorological Agency (Aemet), which indicates that certain areas of the southern peninsula will reach 40 degrees, "exceptionally high" temperatures for this time of year.
The sharp increase in temperatures will come from a mass of warm and dry African air over the Peninsula and the Balearic Islands, causing a "progressive and marked rise" in the maximums, with values typical of summer, according to Aemet alerted in a statement. . Next, we indicate the areas that will suffer the arrival of the maritime air mass in greater intensity.
The maritime air mass coming from the subtropical Atlantic will leave extreme temperatures: "In many areas of the northeast of the peninsula, in the center and in the south, it will widely exceed 30 degrees and could even exceed 35 degrees and reach 38 , 39, in the Tagus, Guadiana and Guadalquivir valleys for the second half of the week", details Rubén del Campo, spokesman for the State Meteorological Agency.
The experts warn of the exceptionality of this situation: “The temperatures of this last week of April are totally exceptional. Although it would be more 'normal' to see them in July and August, even there they would fall within the high range for the time. That is, they would be the typical ones expected for a very hot summer day. If the forecasts come true, we expect to break temperature records in many capitals. And not by tenths, but long. An intense and extensive heat that is also going to be transferred after sunset, with tropical nights forecast in different municipalities”, according to Marc Santandreu, a physicist and meteorologist for RTVE.
Likewise, the national panorama is worsened by the current drought, which affects a large part of our territory, causing problems related to water scarcity and the appearance and spread of fires.
“This is something very unusual and records can be broken in various seasons. The high values that could be reached in the Guadalquivir valley are especially striking”. insists Ricardo Torrijo, optional meteorologist at the AEMET National Prediction Center. And it is no coincidence, Santandreu clarifies: “It is important to speak clearly about this type of episode. This is climate change. What is now something strange, which is news, will unfortunately cease to be so in a few years. Because we will get used to it, because having happened before, it will not be talked about, ”he laments.
Since this Monday, the thermometers in our country mark at least 30 degrees in 29 provincial capitals. Today, Tuesday April 25, it will reach 39 degrees in Córdoba and Seville, 38 in Badajoz, 36 in Granada and Jaén, and 35 in Albacete, Ciudad Real, Toledo and Zaragoza. Experts warn in this regard: "We could be facing one of the most intense warm episodes recorded in the month of April in our country since there are records."
Regarding Wednesday, AEMET indicates that temperatures will continue to rise in points in the south of Galicia, the northern plateau and the Ebro basin, where they could reach 30 degrees, and even 34 or 35 degrees in the Guadiana and Guadalquivir valleys, Therefore, "the risk of fires will be higher in the east of the peninsula." Fortunately, a somewhat cooler air mass will arrive on Saturday, putting an end to the abnormally high temperatures for this time of year.
