The second heatwave of the summer is just ending and the third is already showing its face. This Friday is the last official day of the episode that in recent days has shattered heat records across the country. Thermometers have begun to drop in recent hours, although they come from so high up that the atmosphere remains fully summery, with maximums that will still reach 40°C in Ponent. Meteocat maintains yellow alerts activated for intense heat in this area on Friday, as well as in Baix and Alt Penedès, Garraf, and Baix Llobregat.

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.

We wake up after a night of temperature contrasts. It has been warm and tropical in many regions, and scorching in parts of the coast and elevated areas of the pre-coast. The scorching night has even been repeated in Portbou (Alt Empordà), where temperatures have not dropped below 31 ºC all night. This location recorded the warmest night since records began in our region, specifically the night of Tuesday to Wednesday, with a minimum of 31.9 ºC. Also noteworthy are the minimums of 28.8 ºC at the Fabra observatory and 28.6 ºC in the Raval neighborhood of Barcelona. In contrast, these figures differ greatly from the coolness experienced in some areas, such as the valleys of the Pyrenees, where temperatures have dropped below 10 ºC.

The heatwave's peak continues to shatter records. The most notable is what was reached at the Fabra observatory in Barcelona, where temperatures exceeded 40 ºC and the absolute heat record, which had been in place since July 2024 at this location, was broken. Specifically, 40.8 ºC were provisionally reached at the Fabra station of the Royal Academy of Sciences and Arts of Barcelona (RACAB), and 40.5 ºC were confirmed at the Meteocat station. This is a figure that stands out particularly because in the more than 113 years of records at this observatory, such figures have never been reached.

The second heatwave of the summer is already here: thermometers have shot up and have already reached or exceeded 40°C in several inland areas. In fact, Tuesday was the hottest day of the summer so far, as 43°C was reached or exceeded in the Lleida plain and especially in the southern interior. Up to six Meteocat stations with more than 20 years of data broke their absolute heat record in Ribera d'Ebre, Segrià, Pla d'Urgell, and Priorat. An episode of extreme heat that will peak on Wednesday in most of the country. But, although the mercury will recede a little by the weekend, there is no clear end in sight for this heatwave, which is expected to be extraordinarily long and not end until next week.

The week has started with suffocating weather, and in some places yesterday was the hottest day of the summer so far, with values similar to those recorded on June 22nd, when the first heatwave occurred. We've had two heavier nights of sleep, especially on the coast, pre-coast, and in the south, with many tropical and some torrid minimums, especially in coastal stretches and in the north of Alt Empordà. Yesterday the maximums already made a significant leap forward and were around 40 ºC in many inland areas, especially in the south and Ponent. Notable were the almost 42 ºC maximum in Vinebre (Ribera d’Ebre) or the 41 in Lleida, and even on the pre-coast of Barcelona they approached 40 ºC, with up to 39.2 ºC in Vallirana (Baix Llobregat). A situation of persistent extreme heat that facilitated the generation of simultaneous fires. The meteorological conditions have improved during the night and have helped to advance favorably in the extinction tasks, with a drop in temperature and less wind.

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.

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.

Catalonia faces a much better water scenario this summer than in previous years, but this does not mean that the risk of fires is lower. Abundant rains, especially during winter, have allowed water reserves and the territory's water status to be recovered. Reservoirs have been filled, forests have been recovering from the historic drought, and vegetation has grown strongly after months of generous rainfall.

The meteorological conditions in the area of the Bisbal d'Empordà fire have been very adverse for most of the hours it has been active. Throughout Friday and Saturday, the fire burned uncontrollably in the Gavarres massif, but on Saturday night, the Firefighters were able to stabilize it. Its extinction is not expected until at least the middle of the week, if there are no flare-ups.

Just as we were recovering from last week's historic heatwave, the second one is already knocking at the door. Summer has barely begun and we are already heading for the second extreme heat episode of the season. Therefore, the slight respite that temperatures have given us coinciding with the beginning of July will not continue.

The Meteorological Service of Catalonia (Meteocat) has issued a notice for the second heatwave of the short summer we've had starting Sunday and until at least Wednesday of next week. The subtropical anticyclone and the warm air mass from North Africa will once again fully affect southwestern Europe, which will send thermometers soaring and make the heat extreme again, with many highs from 30 to 40 ºC, higher in the hottest inland areas, mugginess and over 30 ºC on the coast and new sleepless nights in many regions. A situation that will affect more areas, especially in southwestern Europe.

The heat gives no respite and yesterday, despite the thermometer dropping in many regions, the fully sweltering atmosphere continued, with very marked mugginess on the coast. Only in areas of the Pyrenees, the northeast interior, and the central pre-coastal region did it cool down more thanks to afternoon showers and thunderstorms which, in some cases, were accompanied by hail or ice pellets. For example, the heavy downpour that yesterday left 70 l/m² in Santa Coloma de Farners (Selva) suddenly dropped the mercury from almost 36 ºC maximum to 18 ºC. In Camprodon (Ripollès) more than 45 l/m² accumulated.

The core of the warm air mass affecting us these days continues to move away towards Eastern Europe and its effects will begin to weaken from today due to the passage of a frontal tail. In fact, during Sunday afternoon and night, showers appeared, especially in Ponent and the Pyrenees, which brought little precipitation and strong gusts of wind. However, the thermometer still rose considerably this weekend and the heat peaks have been notable, with a maximum of up to 39.4 °C yesterday in the city of Lleida or 38.8 °C in Albesa, in La Noguera (at the end of this information you will find the highest maximums reached yesterday).

Europe is facing a new climatic reality. Extreme, long, and historic heatwaves are becoming increasingly frequent and are one of the most evident faces of a climate crisis that demands urgent responses. The episode of high temperatures affecting a large part of the continent this June (also in places where it was previously unthinkable) is breaking records in several countries and is the result of global warming caused by human activity and the accumulation of greenhouse gases. And it is no coincidence: Europe is the continent that is warming fastest on the planet and the impacts are already visible on health, agriculture, ecosystems, and water availability.

Although the heatwave has technically ended and we haven't reached 40°C in Catalonia for two days, the fact is that the heat remains very intense everywhere. Yesterday there was a torrid peak in the northeast, where, as in Ponent, 38°C was reached, in Girona municipalities such as Cabanes, la Bisbal d'Empordà or the Darnius-Boadella reservoir. A suffocating atmosphere with marked humidity on the coast, which will continue throughout this last weekend of June, with values ​​still more than five degrees above the average in many cases. All this with sun, calm and afternoon showers only tomorrow in the Pyrenees.