Among the past 3 and since there are records, specifically, since 1975. During the same one the ten days warm followed since at least 1950 and this summer is already emerging as one of the two warmest in the historical series, drawing with that of 2022, which has the record.
It is analyzed with the ‘anomaly of the wave’ parameter, which quantifies how much the maximum temperatures registered with respect to the heat wave thresholds have been diverted. This is explained by the State Meteorology Agency (AEMET) in a thread published in X, collected by Europa Press, in which it details, even with provisional data, that the latter wave had an anomaly of 4.6ºC, exceeding that of July 2022, which was the most intense so far with 4.5ºC of anomaly.
📈🧵The recent heat wave has been the most intense since there are records in Spain.
→ With provisional data, it had an anomaly of 4.6 ° C and exceeds July 2022, the most intense so far with 4.5 ° C anomaly.
– Aemet (@aemet_esp)
Since 1975, 77 heat waves have taken place in the field of the Peninsula and Balearic Islands, of which six have had an anomaly of 4ºC or more and five of them have occurred since 2019.
August 1-20, the warmest since 1961
The last one extended between 16 days, which has contributed to the first 20 days of this month has become the most warm August period since at least 1961 in the whole country.
In addition, the period between 8 and 17 was the most warm consecutive set of at least 1950. The Aemet points out that of the 20 warmest periods, five correspond to the recent heat wave and 15 have been experienced since 2022.
And the prediction until August 31, the agency already anticipates that this summer will be, “with almost total security, one of the two warmest of the series”, tieding with the 2022, the warmest to date. Four of the five warmest agos have been the last four and the other was that of 2003.
In addition, as far as 2025 the warm episodes on the cold have predominated. Although March was a very cold and normal month, the rest of the months have been warm, very warm or extremely warm. After analyzing the temperatures between January and August, the Aemet concludes that this year is the second most warmer in the series, after last year. In fact, it points to a draw between the last four years, which clearly distances themselves from the rest and only 2020 and 2017 are close.
In this context, the AEMET details that the average temperature in Spain has increased 1.69 degrees between 1961 and 2024 and that heat waves are increasing in “duration, extension and intensity”, and each time they are more frequently recorded episodes of very high temperatures, both diurnal and nocturnal. According to the intergovernmental panel data against climate change, the usual summers in the mid-21st century in the Mediterranean region could be about 2 degrees warmer than those of the period 1981-2020 and the Aemet warns that the summers of 2022 and 2025 are already at the level of those summers of the middle of the century.
“That four of the five most intense heat waves have occurred since 2019 is not a coincidence. Every summer will not always be warmer than the previous one; the keys: adaptation and mitigation of climate change,” concludes the Aemet.
