MADRID – Mainland Spain this week recorded its highest daily average temperatures in June since at least 1950 as a heatwave gripped much of Europe, national weather agency AEMET said Wednesday.
“During this heatwave, three days have ranked among the 10 hottest days of the historical record for the month of June,” AEMET said.
Those two days also marked the highest average minimum temperatures for June since 1950, with 20.14C recorded on Monday and 19.81C on Tuesday. These so-called “tropical nights” make sleep challenging and can threaten public health.
The extreme heat hit unusually early in a country that is on the front line of climate change and tends to bake in July and August.
The weather has sparked the highest alert in parts of northern Spain including Cantabria and the Basque Country, usually spared the harshest heat.
Cantabria registered its highest temperature on record for any month of the year on Tuesday with 43.7C in the municipality of Tama, AEMET said. – AFP
