IT MAY not feel like it right now, but more chilly weather is on its way from Friday, according to the State meteorological agency, AEMET.
Rain is forecast across the northern half of mainland Spain this weekend – and even snow at altitudes of more than 1,500 metres.
The last few days have brought near-summerlike weather to most of the mainland and Balearic Islands, closer to that seen in late June or early July than in the first half of May, but the Met office has warned residents they will need to rescue their coats and umbrellas from the mothballs before the week is out.
Temperatures will drop by up to 14ºC overnight across the whole of the mainland, although AEMET says the Mediterranean arc is likely to escape such a dramatic cool-down.
An Atlantic front entering via the north-western region of Galicia and due to arrive on Friday is the cause, and will work its way across the country over Saturday.
Thermometers will drop by between 10ºC and 12ºC in just 24 hours the Basque provinces of Vitoria and Vizcaya, in La Rioja, Madrid, Albacete (Castilla-La Mancha), and the Castilla y León provinces of Zamora, León, Soria, Palencia, Burgos and Salamanca.
The mercury will be in freefall to an even greater extent in the Castilla-La Mancha provinces of Cuenca, Guadalajara and Toledo, the Castilla y León provinces of Valladolid, Segovia and Ávila, and in the southern Aragón province of Teruel, with drops of between 13ºC and 14ºC in the space of a day.
Although the southern half and the Mediterranean provinces will see less of a decline in temperatures, nowhere north of the Canary Islands will see temperatures above 30ºC from Friday, AEMET says.
With thermometers soaring to between 32ºC and 37ºC in the southern half of the country over the last week and set to remain there tomorrow (Wednesday) and Thursday, it was tempting to believe summer had come early; however, the absolute maximum expected in the traditionally-baking far-southern inland areas from the weekend will be 25ºC, dropping to 22ºC on the Mediterranean, no more than 20ºC anywhere in the central part of Spain and a peak of 15ºC in the north.
These maximum temperatures are the very highest expected from the end of the week, but for most of the daytime they will typically be lower, and chillier still at night.
