AFTER a relatively dry, warm month of June, the first full month of summer in Spain is set to start with a sweltering weekend – the mercury could bust the 40ºC ceiling in the eastern half of the mainland, particularly in inland and pre-coastal areas.
Light to moderate rain is expected along the northern coastal strip – Cantabria, Asturias and Galicia – and in the north-western parts of Castilla y León, and thunder and lightning could be seen in the Pyrénées and the Ibérica mountain range, in the southern Aragón area.
But elsewhere, it's set to hot up, albeit with a good cloud covering at first, especially in the Canary Islands and, from tomorrow (Saturday), along the Mediterranean coast.
Whilst moderately-strong winds are expected over the next day or so in the Strait of Gibraltar and parts of the Canaries, temperatures will hit the 40s in the Comunidad Valenciana and the Murcia Region, with 'tropical nights' forecast – defined as overnight figures exceeding 20ºC, even in the early hours, which tends to be the chilliest part of the day.
Showers and clouds are predicted in the northern third of the mainland, and possible bursts of light rain in the Canary Islands, on Sunday, leading to a sharp north-south weather divide.
The Mediterranean seaboard and the southern region of Andalucía will see at least two days of the thermometer reaching levels consistent with a heatwave, particularly in the province of Málaga and especially inland from the Costa del Sol.
But night temperatures in Burgos, Castilla y León, are unlikely to rise above a crisp 11ºC, daytime highs are not expected to get much beyond 21ºC in A Coruña (Galicia) and San Sebastián (Basque Country), meaning in Málaga it will be hotter overnight than it is in these latter two provinces in the middle of the day.
The Costa del Sol and Guadalhorce Valley will experience nights of up to 26ºC, or more than double the temperature in Burgos.
In fact, the province of Málaga has issued 'yellow' and 'orange' alerts for intense heat – the highest being red, which is rare.
The weather map shows yellow to orange along the top of Spain, darkening in colour with patches of red as far as Madrid and the province of Castellón on the east coast, flame-orange along the southern and south-eastern coasts, and a mass of deep red, almost burgundy, covering the whole of Extremadura, Castilla-La Mancha south of Madrid, inland Murcia, Almería, Granada and Málaga, and the whole of Cádiz, Sevilla, Huelva, Córdoba and Jaén.
