The highest temperature on Sunday was measured along the river Guadalquivir near Seville. It was 43 degrees there. That temperature was matched in the city of Badajoz, in the Extremadura.
The mercury is expected to remain above 40 degrees in the coming days. Highs of 42 degrees are forecast in the north, while it will be even warmer in the south at 44 degrees. The warm weather is caused by a complete absence of clouds, in combination with the supply of warm air from North Africa.
Desert
Tourists in Madrid thought the heat was a bit too much. As Raisa, a businesswoman from Abu Dhabi: “It’s not as pleasant as we would like on a vacation, but it is what it is. Compared to a desert, it is not so bad.” Guatemalan Lazaro sought the shade: “It’s hot, but luckily there’s a breeze. That makes a difference.”
AEMET, the Spanish KNMI, warns Spaniards to avoid strenuous outdoor activities as much as possible and to keep an eye on the elderly, especially if they are sensitive to high temperatures.
wildfires
Nature may also suffer from the warm weather. AEMET predicts wildfires, just like the heat wave last month. At that time, at least 25,000 hectares of nature reserve went up in flames in the province of Zamora alone. A local newspaper spoke of “the greatest disaster of this century.”
Heat waves are not uncommon in Spain, but the June one was the earliest in more than 40 years. Even then the mercury rose above 40 degrees.