It had been announced as active and passive and yesterday the omen was confirmed. The State Meteorological Agency (Aemet) announced through its official channels that the first heat wave of this summer – the one that meets all the requirements to achieve this category – has arrived in Spain on Sunday. It is a mass of very warm air dragged by the ridge positioned in North Africa.
So the first episode of extreme heat already hit the southern provinces of Spain yesterday, with temperatures approaching 40 degrees. During the day, Aemet activated the first orange and yellow warnings in these territories, with special attention to the Guadalquivir valley, where it is predicted that thermometers could set temperature records for this time of year.
But the most suffocating atmosphere, the one that will turn on the red alert in about thirty provinces, will arrive from today, Monday. Provinces such as Córdoba and Jaén are among these territories at extreme risk. And experts indicate that, if the predictions are fulfilled during the next 48 hours, the historical temperature record, which is now 47.6 degrees, could be broken.
It is practically taken for granted that in many provinces of the south of Spain the temperature will exceed 45 degrees today. And the rest of the Peninsula is not spared from this heat wave either, with maximums around 38 degrees in general. The atmosphere will also be particularly hot in the Balearic Islands, which could reach 40 degrees. In the case of the Canary Islands, Aemet reports that this very warm air mass could also reach this territory in a matter of hours.
During the last hours the experts seem to have reached a consensus with the date of the end of this heat wave. Nothing is a foregone conclusion, though, despite forecasts that Wednesday could be the last day of these above-average temperatures for the time of year.
This does not mean that it will stop being hot, since the thermometers will remain at 40 degrees in many provinces of the south and interior of Spain. A temperature that, although high, is no longer considered extraordinary, since these are typical values, during the last years, of the summer months.
The torrid atmosphere that is expected for Monday and Tuesday in large parts of Spain threatens, on the other hand, to aggravate the risk of forest fires and it is not ruled out that it is necessary to issue the extreme alert during the next few hours .
The most complicated day due to the danger of forest fires will be Tuesday and this extreme alert will extend to practically the entire peninsula, with the exception of the coast, the Cantabrian strip and preferably the northeast quadrant, according to the latest data managed by Aemet.
Civil Protection has already alerted the population of the risk of forest fires due to the high temperatures in large areas of the country with an express call to notify 112 immediately of the sighting of any column of smoke in order to act quickly.
