A 16-day heatwave Spain suffered this month was “the most intense on record”, the country’s state meteorological agency (AEMET) has said.
Provisional readings for the 3-18 August heatwave exceeded the last record, set in July 2022, and showed an average temperature 4.6C higher than for previous such phenomena, the agency said on X.
The August heatwave exacerbated tinderbox conditions in Spain that fuelled wildfires that continue to ravage parts of the north and west of the country.
More than 1,100 deaths in Spain have been linked to the heatwave, according to an estimate released on Tuesday by the Carlos III Health Institute.
Since it began its records in 1975, AEMET has registered 77 heatwaves in Spain, with six going 4C or more above the average – five of those since 2019.
Scientists say the climate crisis is driving longer, more intense and more frequent heatwaves worldwide.
AEMET said a 10-day period within the last heatwave, covering 8-17 August, was the hottest 10 consecutive days recorded in Spain since at least 1950.
The agency said it was “a scientific fact that current summers are hotter than in previous decades”.
It added: “Each summer is not always going to be hotter than the previous one, but there is a clear trend towards much more extreme summers. What is key is adapting to, and mitigating, climate change.”
