The Spanish government has advised people to take extra care as the drought-stricken country experiences record-breaking temperatures that could result in an unprecedented April temperature of 39C (102F) in parts of Andalucía on Friday.
This week’s abnormally high spring temperatures – caused as a mass of very hot air from north Africa travels across the Iberian peninsula and the Balearic islands – have already led the regional government of Madrid to approve a plan to help hospitals, health centres and schools cope, and to order the opening of public swimming pools a month earlier than usual.
In Seville, where temperatures were expected to hit 36C on Thursday, police were trying to establish whether a horse pulling a carriage of tourists had died of heatstroke.
The central government has reminded citizens to stay hydrated and to make regular checks on vulnerable people such as babies, children and old people, as the extreme-heat episode peaks on Thursday and Friday.
According to Rubén del Campo, a spokesperson for Spain’s state meteorological agency, Aemet, Spain has in recent days experienced temperatures between 7C and 11C above the average for the time of year. He said temperatures in the Andalucían provinces of Seville and Córboba could reach 39C on Friday.
April temperature records have already been broken at Córdoba airport – where the mercury hit 35.1C earlier this week, exceeding the 34C high recorded in April 2017 – and at Jerez airport, where the temperature of 35C beat the April record of 33.6C set in 1997.
Del Campo said April 2023 was well on its way to becoming the hottest April on record.
“Confirmation is still pending, but this high-temperature episode will probably be the hottest April in the Iberian peninsula since records began – since at least 1950,” he said.
“When it comes to the relationship between this kind of weather and climate change, we know that extremely high temperatures have become more frequent and more intense, and this intense and extreme heat is arriving earlier. Although each episode needs to be analysed individually and in detail, this episode fits with what’s happening because of climate change.”
Del Campo also noted that this month’s rainfall was well down on average; terrible news for a country that has been in drought since January last year.
He said that between 1 April and 23 April, 12 litres per sq metre of rain fell in Spain – just 25% of the normal amount. As things stand, this April could overtake April 1995 – when 23 litres per sq metre of rain fell – as the driest on record.
Although temperatures are forecast to come down over the weekend, they could begin to climb again from next Tuesday, Del Campo added.
In May last year, temperatures in parts of Spain exceeded 40C as a mass of hot, dry air brought temperatures between 10C and 15C above the seasonal average and more akin to high summer. That was followed by two heatwaves in June and July that were accompanied by forest fires that burned through hundreds of thousands of hectares of land across Spain.
A recent EU report concluded that the climate crisis had “frightening” impacts in Europe last year, with heatwaves killing more than 20,000 people and drought withering crops.
