MADRID – Temperatures across Spain are expected to reach nearly 40°C this weekend as the country swelters through an unseasonable veroño.
The expression is used when unusually high temperatures in autumn (otoño) make it seem like summer (verano).
The start of October in Spain has been the warmest since records began, according to state forecaster Aemet, mirroring a global trend after the world’s hottest September.
The early autumn heat offered little respite for tourists or residents after a sweltering summer, in which Spain experienced four heatwaves.
Aemet said the warm weather in October was highly unusual for this time of year and there would be no let-up until next week.
“The situation of high temperatures that Spain is experiencing these days is extraordinary. There are now six records for consecutive warm days (from September 28 to October 4),” it said. “But with current forecasts, it could be up to 16 consecutive days!”
Forecasters predicted that temperatures in Andalucia, in the south of the country, could reach 37°C or 38°C (98.6- 100.4°F) over the weekend. The high temperatures are unlikely to fall until next Friday, Aemet said.
Meanwhile, Spanish troops were battling a wildfire on the holiday island of Tenerife on Friday, which has reignited in the scorching temperatures after destroying thousands of hectares in August, officials said.
The fire forced the evacuation of about 3,000 people from the town of Santa Ursula and another 200 from the municipality of La Orotava in the north of the island.
The blaze, which first broke out on 15 August, was declared under control on 11 September after it destroyed around 15,000 hectares (37,000 acres) of woodland, but was never fully put out. It restarted on Wednesday as temperatures rose to nearly 40°C (104°F) on some parts of the island.
Tourist areas on the island, which is popular with British holidaymakers, have so far been unaffected and Tenerife’s two airports are still operating.
However, elsewhere in Spain, tourist chiefs were using the hot spell to promote their resorts to holidaymakers.
“We have 300 days of sunshine each year,” Vicent Mascarell, the tourism chief for the council in Gandia, on the Costa Blanca, told local media.
“There is life outside summertime. It is possible to go to the beach at other times of the year.”
As global temperatures rise due to climate change, scientists have warned that heatwaves will become more frequent and more intense.
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