Summer heat all year. Photo © Karethe Linaae
2025 has been the year when summer refused to end.
Every day in June, the temperature climbed above 30 degrees here in southern Spain. Then came the Terral winds, bringing the tropical heat of July and August, with new records for both highs and lows. That much was expected. What wasn’t expected was that the heat would linger well into autumn, with tropical nights on the Costa del Sol even in mid-October.
Playa. Photo © Karethe Linaae
People now say it isn’t that bad, as we have had worse summers — but I disagree. In the summer of 2025, we were 2,8 degrees above the normal temperature average for the past 35 years. At the same time, it’s unsettling when what used to be two months of summer stretches into more than four. And all of this has happened within the space of just a decade.
Cracked earth. Photo © Karethe Linaae
We were lucky this year. After yet another dry winter, the long-awaited rain finally arrived at the end of March. Without that vital downpour, the Costa del Sol’s summer would have looked very different. Thanks to the rain, the authorities could lift most water restrictions, allowing Málaga province’s 75,000 swimming pools to refill, six million tourists to feast on freshly laundered towels, and even the beach showers to work again in most coastal towns.
Fountain, Marbella. Photo © Karethe Linaae
By 30 September, the end of the hydrological year, our water reserves were almost three times higher than in 2024 — and everyone breathed a sigh of relief. But the cooler temperatures and rain that usually signal autumn didn’t arrive until the final week of October. And when they did, the skies opened. It seems the new meteorological rule is all or nothing. Needless to say, there’s barely a drop in the forecast for the rest of November.
Rusty fall. Photo © Karethe Linaae
I can honestly say that not since my winter in Los Angeles have I longed so deeply for cool air, fresh winds, thick jumpers — and above all, rain. That’s what autumn should be: a time to recharge, both hydrologically and psychologically, before the next long summer.
Something is brewing. Photo © Karethe Linaae
Now that it’s finally a little cooler and wetter, we must resist the urge to swap complaints about the heat for grumbling about the cold. Instead, let’s welcome whatever the season gives us — the wind, the rain, the storms. It’s time to get cosy again.
Please, I want to go home! Photo © Karethe Linaae