A girl plays in one of the fountains of Córdoba to alleviate a day with 43 degrees in Córdoba, on July 17. Salas (EFE)
Spain has endured the hottest month in history, as reported on Monday by the State Meteorological Agency (AEMET).
Its average temperature was the highest recorded in the country not only in July, but in any month since there are records, that is, since 1961. The heat wave that affected the Peninsula and the Balearic Islands was the most important since there are records .
It was the most intense, the largest (with 40 provinces affected, tying with the largest so far, recorded in August 2012) and the second longest in the series, lasting 18 days.
In the Canary Islands there were two heat waves throughout July.
In addition, it was also a very dry month: rainfall did not reach half the normal value, making it the third driest July of the 21st century.
Rubén del Campo, spokesman for the AEMET,
"In Spain we have never had a month as hot as this past July," says Del Campo, who explains that it is due to a very persistent situation of high pressure: "We have had a mass of very warm air over our country practically for the whole month".
In addition, the specialist recalls the heat wave between July 9 and 26.
"On part of those days this very warm air was also fueled by the arrival of an even warmer air mass from North Africa," he notes.
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Heat waves: what is coming is worse
The month of July was extremely hot, with an average temperature over mainland Spain of 25.6°.
A value that is 2.7° above the average for this month, being the reference period from 1981 to 2010. It was the month of July and the hottest month in general since the beginning of the series in 1961, having exceeded by 0.2° in July 2015, which was the warmest in the series so far.
The average temperature in the Balearic Islands (26.8°) and the Canary Islands (26.8°) was very warm, exceeding the average for the month of July by 1.7° and 1.6°, respectively.
July was extremely hot throughout peninsular Spain, except in areas of northern Galicia, eastern Cantabrian, Ebro valley and peninsular southeast, where it was very hot.
In the Balearic Islands it was very warm or extremely warm, while in the Canary Islands it was very warm in most areas.
July 2022 became the warmest month of the entire year in the series, with July 2015 coming second and August 2003 third. Until 2015, no month had exceeded 25ºC on average;
only seven years later they have surpassed themselves again, and more loosely.
pic.twitter.com/pn5ihq0vDa
– AEMET (@AEMET_Esp) August 8, 2022
Rubén del Campo explains it this way: “We have had a very persistent situation throughout the month that has caused the Peninsula to heat up a lot”, a situation known as autochthonous heat.
In addition, to this is added that in the middle of the month the Peninsula received an extra injection of heat from North Africa.
It is an extremely persistent situation, because, as the spokesperson explains, "it is not normal for a weather situation to persist for so long with so many days of continuity".
The meteorologist explains that it is clear that we have a warmer atmosphere: “On a warmer planet, the atmospheric situations that a few decades ago gave rise to warm episodes now give rise to heat waves.
And atmospheric situations that a few decades ago gave rise to heat waves, now produce extreme heat waves like the one we experienced in July."
Situations of more persistent heat
The spokesman for the state agency explains that some studies indicate that climate change "could be behind these atmospheric situations becoming more persistent because the Arctic warming faster than the rest of the northern hemisphere may be behind changes in the patterns of atmospheric circulation, which lead to these heat situations being more persistent.”
Thermal anomalies reached 4° above normal in Galicia, central and southern Castilla y León, Community of Madrid, Extremadura, western Castilla-La Mancha and in points in the interior of Andalusia and the Pyrenees, even with nearby anomalies to 5° at points in these regions.
The maximum daily temperatures were on average 3.3° above the normal value, while the minimum temperatures were 2.2° above the average.
In 29 main stations, the average temperature of the month was the highest of any month since the beginning of the respective series.
In addition, in 41 main stations the monthly average of the maximum daily temperatures was the highest in the series, while in nine the average of the minimum was also the highest since the beginning of the observations.
In July, the heat wave stood out, of exceptional duration and intensity, which affected mainland Spain and the Balearic Islands between the 9th and the 26th, and which, lasting 18 days, became the second longest heat wave since there are records in Spain, only surpassed by the heat wave that took place from June 27 to July 22, 2015, and which lasted 26 days.
In addition, the heat wave affected 40 provinces, tying with the largest so far, recorded in August 2012, and it was also the most intense heat wave, with a wave anomaly of 4.8°.
Heat wave studies in Spain date back to 1975 and with the information currently available, the heat wave of July 2022 in the Peninsula and the Balearic Islands is the most important in the historical series due to its exceptional intensity, duration and extension.
