The second heatwave of the summer reached its peak this Wednesday. The forecasts have been met and it has been an exceptionally warm day, with many extremely high values in many regions that have shattered several heat records. It can already be said that we are experiencing a historic episode, the umpteenth in recent years. This is the case of the Fabra Observatory in Barcelona, where the official maximum temperature at the manual station of the Royal Academy of Sciences and Arts of Barcelona (RACAB) has finally been 40.9 °C, an absolute record in 113 years of data, surpassing the one in place until now, that of July 2024. The automatic station of the Meteorological Service of Catalonia (Meteocat) located at Fabra also registered a maximum of 40.7 °C, the highest since the centennial data series began.

The meteorological chronicle has, for weeks, been a simple collection of heat, sun, and more heat, with practically no new developments or notable changes. This weekend has not broken this monotony, with heat that has been intensifying and will do so even more during this new week. On Sunday, temperatures already approached 40 ºC inland, and this night has been tropical in many places, and torrid in coastal stretches, highlighting the 28.5 ºC minimum in Portbou (Alt Empordà) due to the reheated tramuntana wind, or the 27.6 ºC in the Raval neighborhood of Barcelona. The temperature will continue its relentless rise, which has multiplied the alerts for intense heat in many regions by Meteocat. The alerts extend throughout the country, and are red - the maximum possible danger - especially on Wednesday. The second heatwave of the summer is here, and it will be long and suffocating, as it will last for almost the entire week.

The heat intensified on Saturday, after a few days of respite with more controlled heat. It is the prelude to a new heatwave that will start this Sunday and push the mercury up to 42 or 43 °C in Ponent and the Ebro basin, with fully sweltering heat that will also reach the rest of the country. It will not be as intense a heatwave as the one we suffered in June, but we will once again be well above the meteorological average for early July. All this with a sun that will prevent any possible cloudiness or showers and with a risk of fire that remains high.

We continue to be very attentive to the evolution of the serious fire in Baix Empordà, which has been burning uncontrollably since Friday morning. The wind will continue in the coming hours, first with tramuntana and then turning to marinada. Consult here the expected evolution of the meteorological conditions in the area. All this after a very warm Friday that left us many maximums of 32°C to 37°C, but even more so in the interior of the Ebro, with almost 39°C maximum in Benissanet (Ribera d'Ebre). A weekend is starting that will kick off the second heatwave of the summer. The mercury will soar especially from Sunday, when this episode will officially begin and will last until the middle of next week. In fact, Meteocat has already activated the first alerts on Sunday for this new heatwave, which will last at least until Wednesday.

The heat has been the protagonist this Saint John's Eve, one of the warmest since records began. The temperature again exceeded 40°C in Ponent yesterday for the umpteenth consecutive day, although it is already far from the 42 or 43°C recorded on Monday and Tuesday, when we experienced the peak of the heatwave. The temperature will begin to drop progressively from today, although in no case will we notice a significant cooling and we will remain with values above the climatic average. Of course: 40°C will no longer be reached anywhere for the first time this week, and the heatwave is officially declared over. The maps indicate that a more substantial cooling could arrive next week.

The heat has once again been very intense and torrid in recent hours, despite a slight decrease compared to the temperature peak on Monday, which reached up to 43 ºC as the most notable figure in Vilanova de Segrià. The third day of the heatwave once again pushed thermometers above 35 ºC in much of the interior, with over 40 ºC in Ponent and the Ebro interior. Notable figures include the 41.4 ºC reached in Alcarràs, 41.3 in Lleida, and 41.2 in Alfarràs (Segrià) as the highest readings on Tuesday. No records have been registered in Catalonia, but they have in France, as Monday afternoon, Monday night to Tuesday, and Tuesday have been the warmest in history since records began in the neighboring country, with numerous heat records and temperatures clearly above 40 ºC.

The heat has intensified in recent hours, coinciding with the start of astronomical summer on Sunday, the day when maximum temperatures already reached and exceeded 40°C for the first time this year in the regions of Ponent. Notably, 41°C were reached in the city of Lleida (Segrià) and in El Poal (Pla d'Urgell). And the night was torrid in some coastal areas and in elevated zones of the coast and pre-coast, with minimums that did not drop below 25°C. This situation will continue and worsen today, with even more intense heat and the possibility of exceeding 42°C in Ponent and the Ebro interior. A first heatwave of the year that peaks this Monday, with extraordinarily high values, and this situation will accompany us, at least, until Tuesday or Wednesday.

The heat intensified clearly on Saturday, with the start of the weekend seeing maximum temperatures already reaching 38.8 °C in Alcarràs and exceeding the 38 °C mark in several places in the western and southern half of the country. This is only the beginning of a thermal escalation that will cause the mercury to rise every day, both day and night, and the first heatwave of the year. Suffocating days are expected, with up to 40 °C or more inland, and quite widespread sleepless nights, with the first torrid minimums around Barcelona. Meteocat has already issued the first official warnings for intense daytime heat in Ponent on Sunday, extending to many more regions on Monday. For its part, Civil Protection has activated the alert of the Procicat plan.

The heat was again very intense and full of heatstroke this Friday, with maximums around 37°C in Ponent. And attention because this weekend the thermometers will not stop rising. The atmosphere will be especially torrid from Sunday, when the first heatwave of the year will begin in our country, with extreme temperatures throughout the country for at least three consecutive days, both day and night. We expect suffocating days, with up to 40°C or more inland, and quite widespread sleepless nights. Meteocat has already issued the first official warnings for intense daytime heat in Ponent on Sunday and which will extend to many more regions on Monday. For its part, Civil Protection has activated the Procicat plan alert.

We leave behind a weekend marked by calm weather, with a lot of stability and a sun that has gradually been imposing itself. This anticyclonic dynamic, typical of this time of year, will continue during the coming days, although afternoon showers will also continue in some regions of the northern half. The temperature will rise today after a weekend that has not been particularly warm. Thermometers will experience a brief peak this Monday, with maximums reaching 33 or 34°C in parts of Ponent and the interior of the Ebre. For now, however, there is no significant heatwave in sight, and it seems that the heat we had at the end of May will not visit us again, at least, until the second half of June. We expect a thermal roller coaster week, as from tomorrow the mercury will deflate again.

The weekend began with very calm and stable weather, marked by the presence of high cloud intervals that on Saturday caused trouble in many regions. During Saturday afternoon, some light, unimportant showers also reappeared, a situation that will be repeated on a fully anticyclonic Sunday with many more spells of sunshine. The highs will remain between 23 and 30 ºC in general, or a little higher in parts of Ponent and the Ebro interior. For the moment, however, there is no significant heatwave in sight and it seems that the heat of late May will not visit us again, at least, until the second half of June.

The cooling was strong this Friday after the active front that crossed Catalan territory on Thursday. Maximums remained between 20 and 25º C, or slightly higher in parts of Ponent, the Ebre, and Central Catalonia, a situation that will repeat during the first weekend of June. Nevertheless, some afternoon showers will still fall in some areas, especially on Saturday. Temperatures will rise, with warmer weather at midday. But the heat will remain moderate, with comfortable nights.

The heat has not been as intense during the weekend, although the atypical summer atmosphere has continued. During this first week of June, thermometers will continue to gradually drop, and by Wednesday we will have values more typical for this time of year. Little by little we have been leaving behind a heatwave that has broken the record for the highest maximum ever reached in Catalonia in a month of May, with 39.5 °C recorded in Vinebre (Ribera d'Ebre) on Friday (you will find the most outstanding data from this historic heatwave at the end of this article). The sun will continue to dominate these days, with high clouds and afternoon showers in the north of the country, as we have already seen during the weekend afternoons, with local but intense storms in some cases. All in all, however, awaiting a possible more extensive spell of showers before the weekend, which would open the door to a strong but brief cooling down.

The heat has not been as intense at the start of the weekend, although we remain with thermal values quite a bit higher than usual at the end of May. Little by little we will leave behind a heatwave that has broken the record for the highest maximum ever reached in Catalonia in the month of May, with 39.5 °C recorded in Vinebre (Ribera d'Ebre) on Friday (you will find the most outstanding data from this historic heatwave at the end of this information). The protagonism, however, will continue to be for the heat and also for a sun that will combine with high clouds and with showers in the north of the country, as we have already seen during Saturday afternoon.

The historic heatwave we've been experiencing for days peaked this Friday in the southern interior of the country. Of note are the 39.5 °C recorded in Vinebre (Ribera d'Ebre). This is the highest maximum ever reached in a May in all of Catalonia, shattering the absolute record in force until now: the 38 °C registered in May 2022 in Castellbisbal (Vallès Occidental) and Anglès (Selva). This historic data joins the large number of records that have fallen between Thursday and Friday throughout the country (you will find the most outstanding data from this historic heatwave at the end of this information).

The full summer atmosphere that has accompanied us for days is leaving thermal records that, in some cases, have never been seen in the middle of May. The United Kingdom, France, and Cantabria and Asturias in Spain are some of the places where unusual values have been recorded in a heatwave with few precedents, both for its date on the calendar – at the end of meteorological spring – and for its intensity and persistence, with many days widely above the climatic average. Also in Catalonia, in recent days, temperatures more typical of early July than of May have been reached, with thermometers approaching 35 °C in some territories.

The mass of warm air over the Iberian Peninsula and all of Western Europe has for days been leaving us with an atmosphere more typical of early July than May, with heat records in Spain, France or the United Kingdom. An exceptional episode that gives no respite, and in the coming days will reach its peak, with a warm peak that will leave values approaching 38 °C in Ponent and will transport us directly to the summer heatwave. In some cases there will be values more than 10 degrees above average. All this, moreover, with many hours of very intense sun that will only be disturbed by the presence of some harmless afternoon clouds in the Pyrenees. At the end of this information you will find a summary of this heatwave and a comparison with the usual temperature at the end of May, far from current records.

The mass of warm air over the Iberian Peninsula continues to generate an atmosphere more typical of early July than May. This weekend, temperatures once again neared 35 °C in the Lleida plain and the Girona regions, and exceeded 32 °C in the pre-coastal areas. On the coast, the lack of ventilation and intense radiation caused the mercury to climb to 31 °C in Roses. Models indicate that this warm spell will extend for much of the week, with values between 6 and 8 degrees above average in some cases. Thermometers will reach their peak between Thursday and Friday, with a warm surge that will bring values close to 38 °C in western Catalonia.

We leave behind a weekend of very different weather, with a rainy Saturday afternoon in many places and a sunny Sunday, at least during the first half of the day. During the afternoon, cloudiness will progressively increase and from sunset onwards, showers will fall in the western half and in other nearby regions, not reaching the eastern half of the country. All this on the eve of a week that will begin gently, but which will set us back a few weeks in terms of temperature.

The weekend began with weather more typical of the British Isles than of our home, with the passage of a front associated with an Atlantic low pressure system located in the western peninsula that left rain in many regions during the second half of Saturday, but this situation has changed radically. This Sunday calm and sun will once again dominate and only a few afternoon showers will fall towards the western half. The temperature will begin to rise from then on.