In April 2023, an anomalous warm episode broke absolute records from across the southwest. The thermometers marked 38.8 degrees in Córdoba, 37.4 in Morón and 36.9 in Seville. It seemed like an isolated event, something related to the El Niño event that was about to begin that May. But not.
Summer arrives this weekend in much of the country.
What does AEMET say? According to the agency“temperatures are expected to be noticeably higher than normal for this time of year, especially the maximum temperatures that will be more typical of early summer.” And no, it is not an exaggeration: according to ECMWF data, a large part of the southwest of the peninsula and the Ebro valley will be in the 99% percentile compared to the 1991-2020 reference period to date.
That is, we are going to experience one of the warmest temperatures ever recorded for April 20 in those areas.
The first heat wave of the year? No, the temperatures will not reach that high. It must be remembered that, from a technical point of viewthermometers should read temperatures that would be high for July and August for three days in a row. Obviously, although the weekend is going to be very hot for the month of April, we are not going to reach those extremes.
However, that does not mean that it is not dangerous. It is well documented that the first warm events of the year are the ones with the greatest risk because they usually catch us off guard. It is true that 30 degrees will be more uncomfortable than dangerous for most citizens; But it is good for the most vulnerable to pay attention.
Spring is not what it used to be. Not even a year as strange as this one is free from this type of phenomenon. And that’s driving farmers across the country crazy: If a couple of weeks ago the frosts crushed the cropsthis Saturday the heat will do its thing. Just when the grain heads, the stone fruit set and the late flowering of the olive tree occurs in the south.
January 2026 has given us many reasons for optimism, but it is very difficult to face the future without seeing all the meteorological setbacks that lie ahead.
Image | BenBaso | Xataka
In Xataka | AEMET has just made it official: Spain faces its first risky heat wave of the year this weekend
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