Barcelona sets new heat record at 40.7C

BRACELONA: Barcelona registered a maximum temperature of 40.7°C on Wednesday, its highest figure in 112 years of records, weather agencies said as another heatwave struck Spain.

The provisional reading at the Fabra Observatory on Barcelona’s hilly western outskirts broke the record of 40°C set on July 30, 2024, regional weather monitor Meteocat said on X.

Meteocat’s website showed that the observatory’s temperature peaked at 40.7°C, after the earlier X post reported a record of 40.5°C

At Barcelona’s El Prat airport, which is almost at sea level and sits next to the Mediterranean, the thermometer hit 37.7°C, the highest reading in records going back to 1924, national weather agency Aemet said.

“Barcelona has recorded the hottest day,” confirmed Aemet spokesman Jose Angel Nunez, saying the two stations were the city’s observatories of reference.

The proximity of the Mediterranean usually moderates heat in Spain’s second city, a global tourist magnet.

A heatwave that began in Spain on Sunday is predicted to last until Thursday, with some weather stations recording temperatures above 44°C this week.

Aemet issued its highest red warning for heat in pockets of the Catalonia and Valencia regions on Wednesday.

The second-highest orange alert was in place for much of the centre, south and northeast, including Barcelona.

An exceptional heatwave that gripped much of Europe in late June saw mainland Spain swelter through its highest daily average temperatures for the month since at least 1950, at 28.17°C.

According to estimates from the MoMo monitoring system, more than 1,000 deaths in Spain could be linked to heat last month.

Scientists say human-driven climate change is increasing the intensity, length and frequency of extreme weather events such as heatwaves.