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Heat in the Spanish city of Seville on July 8th
Photo: Angel Garcia / ZUMA Wire / IMAGO
In Spain it was hotter this year than at any time since records began.
The annual average temperature is above 15 degrees for the first time, said the state meteorological service of Spain Agencia Estatal de Meteorología.
This surpassed the previous warmest years of 2017 and 2020.
Unusually warm conditions that began in May and continued through the summer season continued into the fall, the release said.
»Although the end of the year is still a few days away, it is already certain that 2022 will be the warmest year in Spain.«
The average temperature was estimated at 15.3 degrees, 1.6 degrees above average.
Only March and April were exceptions - all other months were warmer than usual.
Little rainfall
Provisionally, 2022 can also be classified as a very dry year - the available data up to December 15 showed that there was less precipitation in only two years - 2005 and 2017.
According to the announcement, the rainfall was 24 percent below normal.
At the end of November, there was still a meteorological drought in Spain.
Although there would have been more precipitation in the first half of December, it would not have been enough to completely defuse the situation.
The astronomical winter begins this Wednesday.
But in the first two weeks of December, temperatures were above average for this time of year, especially in the southern half of the country.
In all probability, there will be no cold Christmas and the authorities expect higher temperatures afterwards.
Warm autumn
From September to November, the average temperature in the country was 16.3 degrees - two degrees higher than the average.
Together with the autumn of 1983, it was the warmest autumn since 1961.
The high temperatures during this period were particularly noticeable on the Mediterranean coasts and the Balearic Islands.
The last autumn in which temperatures were below the normal average was in 2010, it is said.
Since then, every autumn has been characterized by above-average temperatures.
This year, for the first time, two consecutive seasons within the same year, summer and autumn, were the warmest in line.
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