A cold front causes a general drop in temperatures in the first week of 2023

The first week of 2023 brings a normalization of temperatures to Spain, after a hot start to the year, in which the values ​​were up to 7° above the usual values, especially in the north of the Peninsula.

This Monday there will be a significant and practically generalized decrease in thermometers, except in the Mediterranean area, until reaching values ​​more typical of this time of year, with some weak frosts in inland areas, especially in the northwest quadrant, according to the prediction. Christmas special from the State Meteorological Agency (Aemet).

In addition, these first days of the year the weather will be stable, with skies with few clouds in general, and the rains, weak, will be restricted to the eastern half of the peninsula and to Galicia.

More information

Spain exceeds 15° on average for the first time in 2022, the warmest year in more than a century

Rubén del Campo, spokesman for Aemet, explains that 2023 began "with force", when five temperature records were broken on Sunday the 1st, among which those of Bilbao and San Sebastián stand out, where the maximum and minimum temperatures were around 25° they were between 14° and 16°, records more typical of July.

Segovia experienced its warmest night ―with 10.3°― for January since 1989, the year since the station is in its current location.

“Both December 31, 2022 and January 1, 2023 are among the two warmest in the series.

In both cases, they are very close to December 31, 2021 and January 1, 2022, when there was a warm episode that was already extraordinary and that in a year has occurred again ”, contextualizes the spokesperson.

And all this after 2022 that ended as the warmest year in Spain since at least 1916,

with a lot of difference compared to the previous two warmest (2017 and 2020).

This is the first time since there are records that the average annual temperature exceeds 15°, specifically 15.4°, which is 1.7° above normal (2017 and 2020 tied with 14.8°, a degree of abnormality).

The year 2023 has begun with very high temperatures for the time.

On January 1, temperature records for this month were broken at several main network observatories.

The 25.1 ºC of Bilbao stands out, which exceeds the record of 24.4 ºC registered just one year ago.

👇 pic.twitter.com/0cjrA9bunp

– AEMET (@AEMET_Esp) January 2, 2023

However, this Monday there will be a general drop in temperatures throughout Spain since, after the passage of the front, which entered through the northwest of the peninsula, a colder Atlantic air mass will arrive than the current one.

It will not be in any case of intense cold, but of more common temperatures for this time, although the daytime temperatures will continue to be generally above average.

The front will continue on its way to the east, losing strength and, in its wake, will cause rains, generally weak, in the central and inner strip of the eastern half of the peninsula, without reaching the Mediterranean.

At the beginning of the day they could be locally strong and with a storm in western Andalusia, where there is a yellow warning, the lowest on a scale of three, in the countryside and the Cadiz coast and in the Sevillian countryside due to the risk of 15 liters accumulating per square meter in one hour.

After the passage of the front, it will stop raining from west to east.

In the Canary Islands, the extreme of the front will leave scattered precipitation, even some storms, more likely in the northwest of the archipelago.

In the next few days, an anticyclone will stabilize the weather.

Thus, from Tuesday to Friday, slightly cloudy skies will predominate and the rains will be practically nil.

This Tuesday it is probable that there will be weak precipitations in points of the eastern half of the peninsula, associated with the remains of the front, as well as in Galicia.

The following days there could be light rains only in the Strait and, from the 5th, in the extreme north of the peninsula.

In the Canary Islands it can rain on Tuesday, especially in the western islands, but stability will prevail the rest of the week.

As for the temperatures, the nocturnal ones will suffer a decrease in general, especially at dawn from Monday to Tuesday, with frosts in large areas of the interior of the peninsula, weak in general.

The daytime will remain with few changes,

Thus, the Kings will find themselves on Thursday with a quiet and sunny day of horseback riding and gift-giving, which will start with morning mists and mists in areas of the interior of the peninsula and the Mediterranean coast.

20th are expected in Girona, Málaga or Huelva;

18th in Bilbao, Barcelona, ​​Castellón and Córdoba;

13° in Burgos, Madrid, Ciudad Real and Cuenca, and the coldest environment will be in Lleida or Zamora, where it will not reach 10° in the presence of fog.

Facing the last weekend of the festivities, Aemet anticipates the arrival of a very active front in Galicia on Saturday, associated with a storm located over the British Isles, which will drop rainfall in said community and in the Cantabrian communities, the Pyrenees, Castilla and León and northern Extremadura.

On Sunday, the front will advance towards the east, so the rains could spread to the rest of the Peninsula, which will affect the movements of the return operation.

As for temperatures, on Saturday they are likely to rise again.