May 2013 was the coldest in 28 years, says met office

The average temperature throughout the Spain – which sees a huge variation year-round from English-style weather in the north to near-subtropical in the Canary Islands – was 14.6ºC, or 1.3ºC lower than usual for the time of year.

According to the State meteorological agency AEMET, the only areas of the country which escaped the cold snap were the southern regions of Andalucía and Murcia, and the Canary Islands which were actually warmer than average.

But in Santander, in the northern Atlantic region of Asturias, this May has been the coldest since 1951.

As is typical for early spring, sharp contrasts in temperature were seen throughout Spain, with the end of May and the period between May 15 and 21 being considerably cooler and the week of May 6 to 13 being hotter than usual.

During that time, the highest maximum day temperature recorded was in Valencia airport on May 7, when the mercury soared to 35ºC, followed by Málaga airport on May 9 with the thermometer rising to 33.6ºC and Jerez de la Frontera (Cádiz province) at 33.3ºC.

At the other end of the scale, nearly two weeks ago a hailstorm and torrential rain in the provinces of Alicante and Valencia left the popular Arenal beach in Jávea (Alicante) completely covered in a white blanket.

And between May 16 and 18, the lowest-recorded temperatures were -2.9ºC in Puerto de Navacerrada in the Madrid region; -2.6ºC in Izaña (Tenerife), and -1.4ºC in Molina de Aragón (Guadalajara province).

The coldest climates in provincial capital cities were seen on May 4 in Burgos airport, with -0.8ºC and in Soria on May 16 at -0.4ºC.

In mountainous areas and northern and inland parts, frost, ice and even snow was experienced last month.

Despite a number of torrential downpours in coastal areas, particularly in the north and east, the month of May was in fact 25 per cent drier than usual for the time of year, based upon records from the period between 1971 and 2000.