Weather Alert As Madrid Hit By First Heatwave
Temperatures in the Madrid region have been climbing steadily these last few days and set to touch 40 degrees on Friday.
The Spanish state weather agency (Aemet) has issued the warning for much of Spain as the first heatwave of the summer crosses the peninsula.
According to their statement ” a large anticyclone at medium and high levels, currently located in the interior of Algeria, will intensify and extend over the next few days towards the west inducing, a southerly flow, which will introduce a very warm, dry and stable air mass over the Spanish mainland and the Balearic Islands,” warned the national agency.
“The most affected areas will be the southern half and the north-eastern quadrant of the Spanish mainland, where it is expected that from Thursday 18 July “temperatures will exceed 38C reaching 40-42 degrees in areas of the Guadiana, Tagus and Ebro valleys; and even 42-44 degrees in the Guadalquivir valley”, says Aemet.
The peak of this heat wave will be this Friday 19th July , when maximum temperatures of over 40 degrees can be expected in much of Spain with southern Andalucía hardest hit with temperatures between 42 and 44 degrees expected in Cordoba and Seville.
As Aemet indicates, the irruption of this very warm and dry air mass from North Africa will be accompanied by suspended dust, which will probably lead to the presence of this phenomenon in a large part of the southern and eastern half of the Iberian Peninsula on Thursday and Friday.
The heatwave is expected to last until the weekend when cooler Atlantic air could lead to a drop in temperatures on the Atlantic side of the peninsula though the east is expected to remain hot throughout next week.
From Monday 22nd onwards, the uncertainty of the meteorological situation increases, making it difficult to determine the end of this heatwave episode. With the current information, the most likely scenario would indicate a new rise in temperatures, which could last until mid-week,” Aemet concluded.
