Today will be the hottest day of the year so far: AEMET points out the places most affected by the heat wave

Radio stations across the country have woken up to the same six words: “the hottest day of the year.” And while making long-term predictions for 2024 is very dangerous, they are six words that make sense.

First, because everything points to the fact that this Wednesday, July 24, will indeed have the highest temperatures of the year so far. And, second, because as summer progresses, there are fewer and fewer days of heat. Although the latter is a trick.

A yellow and orange Spain. Just see AEMET’s heat warning map for these daysto see that the Agency’s technicians have painted almost the entire country orange and yellow. Only the Cantabrian coast, the headwaters of the Ebro valley, Burgos, a large part of Galicia and some areas of the Mediterranean have been spared from warnings for extreme maximum temperatures linked to the heat wave.

And what does that translate into? Maximum temperatures are expected reach 40-42 degrees in the centre and south-western quadrant of the peninsula. In fact, it would not be unusual to find temperatures close to 44 in the Guadalquivir valley.

Temperatures will also be very high in the Ebro valley and inland Valencia (with thermometers between 39-40 degrees), the interior of the southeast of the peninsula (38-39 ºC) and the south of Ourense and the northern plateau (37-38 ºC).

Although the worst, as usual, will come at night. Because, especially in the large valleys of the southern half and the areas affected by the terral, the minimums will not fall below 22 degrees (and possibly even 24 ºC). And this will not only be the case on Wednesday night, but most likely on Thursday as well, despite the moderate drop in temperature that is expected.

This wave of tropical nights (with temperatures above 20 degrees) will make it very difficult to rest over the next few nights in large areas of the country.

Can we say goodbye to extreme heat yet? No, in these circumstances the only thing we can say goodbye to is certainties. There is still a lot of summer left and that means there are still many opportunities for the heat to take over the country. In fact, last year, August 23 was officially the hottest day of the year.

It is true, as I said, that at the peninsular level July is the warmest month of the year and that as we move towards September and the nights get longer, the heat becomes more bearable. However, this is just statistics: we have had enough months of 2024 to know that we can expect anything.

Via Juan Jose Gonzalez Aleman

The great Spanish paradox of this year. And the global data from the European Union’s Copernicus Climate Change Service leave no room for doubt: July 21 was the hottest day on Earth since at least 1940 And that is a record that we have been breaking for two years now.

However, our region has had a few relatively cool months. No one is quite sure if it is a change of trend, a cosmic coincidence or something we don’t even understand yet, but that means that (for the first time in years) summer is being completely open.

Image | ECMWF

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