In Spain, the highest temperature ever recorded was reached in April, with a maximum of 38.4 °C detected late Thursday afternoon at the Cordoba airport in the south of the country. In many other cities of Andalusia, the region where Cordoba is located, the 30 °C were well exceeded, with a maximum of 35 °C in Seville. Overall, in April the maximum temperatures recorded in Spain were 10-15 °C higher than the seasonal average for a few days. According to experts, this year will be the hottest April ever recorded in the country and will aggravate the already difficult conditions related to drought and lack of water reserves to face the late spring and summer.
The maximum temperatures recorded in recent days were caused by the passage of a hot air front on the Iberian peninsula from Africa, combined with a phase of slow evolution of atmospheric conditions due to high pressure. It is a phenomenon that occurs with some frequency, but usually towards late spring and summer, hardly with such extensive and early heat waves.
To reduce the risks for the population, several local administrations in Spain have already implemented the procedure which are usually taken for summer heat waves. In many areas it was decided to change school timetables, in order to concentrate lessons in the cooler periods of the day or interrupt them earlier, while in Madrid the public transport service was strengthened to reduce waiting times. Public swimming pools were opened a month early and assistance plans were launched for the elderly and the weakest sections of the population.
The heat of the last few days will have further consequences on the drought increasingly serious in many areas of Spain. In the first three weeks of April, about a quarter of the rain that normally occurs at this time of year fell. Data from the last few days of the month is not yet available, but this month is likely to prove to be the driest month on record in the country.
The river discharge anomaly, based on reanalysis data from March to April 25, 2023, shows a concerning picture of the #drought still affecting Southern Europe, particularly northern Italy. #rstats #dataviz pic.twitter.com/q6jwC9xlhp
—Dr. Dominic Royé (@dr_xeo) April 27, 2023
According to forecasts, the maximum temperatures should drop over the weekend, but it could already be hot again from the beginning of May, starting in southern Spain. Last year, maximum temperatures above 40 °C were recorded in May, with a further deterioration between June and July with two heat waves that also affected several other areas of Europe. The heat and drought had contributed to an increase in forest fires, among the largest recorded in the country in recent years.
It is difficult to trace a single meteorological event to climate change, especially in the short term, but numerous researches have been signaling for some time now that these events are becoming more and more extreme precisely because of global warming. Last year was the second warmest on record in Europe with the hottest season on record. Overall, the continent is witnessing a more intense increase in average temperature than the global average, with major implications both in the immediate term for health emergencies linked to heat waves and in the medium-long term for the lack of rainfall, especially in southern Europe.
The government of Spain recently asked the European Union for help to support farmers in difficulty due to the long period of drought, which makes planting impractical. The country is a major exporter of fruit, vegetables and raw materials for the food sector: lower harvests could have consequences for the rest of Europe and affect prices, which have already risen due to inflation.
In Europe, the end of winter and the first months of spring were warmer than average, with scarce rains, in many cases insufficient to restore water reserves already put to the test by last year’s drought. Heatwaves also have interested other areas of the planet early, with temperatures above 45 °C in north-western Thailand and 40 °C recorded in Dhaka, the capital of Bangladesh.