Barcelona recorded an absolute temperature record on Wednesday, at 40.7°C in the heights of the city, regional meteorological services announced, beating the previous record of 40°C recorded in July 2024.
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In Barcelona, a city very popular with tourists, the proximity of the sea tends to reduce the heat, according to meteorologists.
The Fabra observatory, one of the most important in the city, reached 40.7°C, according to provisional data from the Catalan meteorological agency Meteocat.
A little earlier, the organization had indicated that this same observatory had recorded a temperature of 40.5 °C with which we already exceeded “the absolute record” of “112 years of data” for this location, which was previously located at 40.0 °C, reached in July 2024, explained Meteocat on the social network X.
At Barcelona airport, by the sea, unlike the Fabra observatory, the temperature reached 37.7°C, three tenths higher than the 37.4°C of August 2010, the Spanish meteorological agency (Aemet) explained to AFP about this observatory which has been collecting data since 1924.
“Barcelona recorded the hottest day,” confirmed Aemet spokesperson José Ángel Núñez.
Heat wave in Spain
AFP
“The city’s two reference observatories, both centuries old, one on the seaside, with the observatory located 4 m above sea level, and the other inside the city, at 408 m above sea level, recorded a historic record,” he explained.
Spain has been facing a new heat wave since Sunday, particularly affecting the north-east of the country, including Catalonia where Barcelona is located.
Two areas near Barcelona are still on red alert, signaling “exceptional danger” with possible “very serious impacts” for the population.
This new heat wave, with temperatures around 40°C in many cities in Spain, is expected to continue until Thursday with a “very high” fire risk, according to Aemet.
Heat wave in Spain
AFP
On the front line of climate change in Europe, Spain is used to high temperatures, but the country has faced an increase in the number and intensification of heat waves in recent years.
The current heat wave is the second of the summer after a month of June which proved to be the second hottest since records began, according to Aemet.
Last summer, Spain also experienced the worst fires in its recent history.
The increase in heat waves and the drop in precipitation in places form an ideal combination for the development of forest fires, which start more easily when the vegetation and soil are very dry.
