The temperatures have started with a strong rise this Thursday. Thermometers will be able to reach maximums of up to 40 degrees in Andalusian cities such as Seville or Córdoba in the coming days. The State Meteorological Agency (AEMET) has warned of a episode of intense and unusual heat for the time that could give rise to the first heat wave of the summer and of the year and the earliest since there are records.
The situation of general stability, which favors strong insolation, together with the entry of a mass of very warm air from North Africa through the south of the peninsula, have caused this progressive rise in temperatures that has been registered between this Thursday and Friday , as reported by the AEMET.
“⚠️High temperatures ��️⏫
The atmospheric stability and the arrival of very warm air from North Africa will make it possible to exceed 38 or 40 ºC in large areas of the southern half in the coming days.
The episode could become the first #OlaDeCalor summer 2022 pic.twitter.com/PemLRejjJl“— AEMET (@AEMET_Esp) June 9, 2022
thermometers they have risen between 5 and 8 degrees in many parts of Spain with respect to the values of Wednesday. This increase will continue throughout the weekend and probably into the beginning of next week.
It is possible that this Friday exceed 38 degrees in large areas of the Guadalquivir, Guadiana and Tagus valleys. 40 will also be reached in a timely manner in the peninsular southwest quadrant. As of Saturday, it could exceed 38 degrees in much of the central area, Extremadura, northern Andalusia and western Castilla-La Mancha. According to the AEMET, it is possible that the thermometers continue to rise on Sunday and Monday and that they tend to stabilize as of Tuesday.
A possible heat wave
“We must be cautious because until this episode of high temperatures ends we will not be able to talk about a heat wave,” warned Ruben del Campo, AEMET spokesman. Even so, he has admitted that it is “very likely that it will end up being so.”
If confirmed, it would be “one of the earliest heat waves to appear”, as reported by Del Campo. Since the records began in 1950, the two most advanced began on June 11, 1981 and June 13, 2017. In this month, according to the AEMET spokesperson, they are repeated “once every two years”.
For the moment, this Thursday the yellow alert for heat has been activated in the Andalusian provinces of Córdoba, Seville, Huelva and Jaén. Balarares and Catalonia have also done it, but in this case due to strong winds and coastal phenomena.
Del Campo explained that “the worst” of this episode of intense heat “will arrive between next Sunday and Monday, with more than 40 or 42 degrees at points in the Guadalquivir and Guadiana valley, above all.”
Only the Cantabrian communities will be saved from this heat because there they will not exceed 25 degrees on those days, according to the AEMET spokesman. In the rest of the Peninsula, the maximum will exceed 35 degrees and the minimums will also be very high.
The nights will also be warm, tropical and torrid in isolated points of Extremadura and eastern Andalusia, where the minimum will not drop below 25 degrees at dawn.
Forest fire risk
The strong heat has triggered the risk of forest fires. The high temperatures have caused that from this Thursday it is “very high” and even “extreme” in Aragon, western Catalonia, southern Valencian Community and Murcia. The Andalusian provinces of Almería and Málaga are also at risk. In the latter, a fire was already registered on Wednesday in Pujerra, in the center of Sierra Bermeja, where thousands of hectares have been devastated.