TEMPERATURES across Spain could break all records this week, with inland provinces topping 40ºC – and even creeping close to 50ºC.
Holidaymakers in the far north-western region of Galicia know they can usually expect a pleasant warmth at this time of year, but its four provinces are on a 'red' weather warning for this week as the mercury is expected to peak at 42ºC in parts.
The western province of Badajoz could reach 47ºC, which would mean it broke the current national record by 0.1ºC. Luckily, despite its nearest sea being in Portugal, Badajoz has plenty of blue-flagged ‘inland’ beaches
The land-locked western region of Extremadura habitually experiences hot, dry summers – although it has plenty of blue-flagged beaches, despite being hundreds of kilometres from the sea – but temperatures forecast for around 44ºC and possibly as high as 47ºC in its southern province of Badajoz for this week are unprecedented.
The Mediterranean coast will see a week of temperatures between approximately 35ºC and 38ºC, probably breaking the 40ºC a short distance inland, although the Balearic Islands are expected to be around 3ºC lower.
Spokesman for the State meteorological agency AEMET, Rubén del Campo, says the next two days will see highs of 'over 35ºC practically everywhere on the mainland'.
He says the heatwave is very likely to last all week and even spill over into the early part of next – a total of around nine days.
Coastal areas, whilst more humid, tend to have slightly lower temperatures during heatwaves – which means that, although the average high on the Costa del Sol over the coming week is expected to be around 31ºC, that of the neighbouring, inland province of Sevilla is likely to reach 43ºC.
Other than in Galicia, most of the rest of the country is on 'orange' – particularly in inland parts of the southern region of Andalucía, including the provinces of Córdoba, Sevilla and Jaén, traditionally the hottest in Spain in summer, and also away from the coast in the province of Huelva.
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