Temperatures around 30°C were recorded on Thursday in Spain, affected by a heat wave worthy of the start of summer in the middle of January, according to the meteorological agency (Aemet), worried about this “anomaly” .
According to Aemet, the thermometer rose to 29.5°C Thursday afternoon in the region of Valencia (east), 28.5°C in that of Murcia (south-east) and 27.8°C near Malaga, in southern Andalusia.
Several local temperature records for the month of January were also broken across the country.
Temperatures have “reached or exceeded 20°C” in “nearly 400 meteorological stations” in the country, or almost one in two, Aemet spokesperson Ruben del Campo stressed on the social network .
According to the agency, the thermometer did not fall below 10°C during the night from Wednesday to Thursday in the small ski resort of Puerto de Navacerrada, located in the Madrid region, at 1900 meters above sea level. ‘altitude.
This is a level “specific to the middle or end of June”, that is to say “summer”, insisted Ruben del Campo, referring to an “anomaly”.
According to David Corell, researcher at the University of Valencia, this heat in the middle of winter, which also affects the south-east of France, is caused by the presence of a powerful anticyclone above the Mediterranean.
“There are no studies yet that have evaluated the long-term trend of this type of event, but it is clear that we are experiencing this type of abnormal situation more and more frequently,” he said. explained to AFPTV.
Accustomed to high temperatures, Spain is faced with increasingly numerous and frequent heat episodes, sometimes outside the summer months, which worry scientists.
The country has already recorded unusually high temperatures in December, with a peak of 29.9°C in Malaga, a national record for the month of December.
These heat waves occur in a context of severe drought, particularly in Andalusia and Catalonia (east), where the authorities have implemented restrictive measures for water consumption, after three years of low rainfall.
In Catalonia, the level of reservoirs, which store rainwater for use during drier months, fell to 17% of their capacity in mid-January. If it falls below 16%, which seems imminent, the authorities will have no choice but to declare a state of emergency, with additional restrictions.