Temperatures have taken a leap forward this Friday and, after a still quite cool and sweater-weather morning, the heat has soared at midday and is already summery, with highs exceeding 30 ºC inland, and reaching 35 ºC in Vinebre (Ribera d’Ebre). And thermometers will rise even more this weekend, with full summer weather and values clearly higher than they should be at this time of year.

Instability has remained slightly active in recent hours, with variability in the sky and some scattered drops or showers that have by no means affected the whole country. Yesterday morning they fell in some regions, and this morning some have fallen that may repeat in areas of the eastern half until mid-morning. Very little all in all. Changes that have caused temperatures to drop, keeping the heat at bay and moderate, with considerable morning coolness. But this slight cooling will not continue in the coming days. The anticyclone will embrace us and a mass of warm air from North Africa will also approach. This will cause calm and radiant sun to dominate the rest of the week without palliative care. But above all, what we will notice is that temperatures will skyrocket, especially at the weekend, when the heat will once again be fully summery with values clearly above the usual for mid-June. 35°C will be widely exceeded in Ponent and Ebre.

The warm and summery peak we experienced yesterday will not continue, as temperatures will start to drop from today. The center of the anticyclone remains far from our home – located in the Azores – and this will allow a weakened cold front to cross us this Tuesday, which will primarily open the doors to the north wind and cause a drop in the mercury. Thermometers will fully normalize on Wednesday, with very breathable air and cooler nights. The second half of the week will again be warmer and more summery, but with no extremes in sight. All this with a slight temporary increase in instability. Between yesterday afternoon and this morning, some showers have fallen in the north and west of the country, leaving up to 20 l/m² in Molló (Ripollès), between 5 and 10 l/m² in Alt Pirineu, or 5 l/m² in Torres de Segre. Today some will repeat in these areas, especially in the north. Regarding the visit of Pope Leo XIV to Catalonia, rain in principle should not make an appearance at the scheduled events. Only drizzles or some local and fleeting shower can escape in the early morning and morning of Wednesday at any point.

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 change in weather that arrived yesterday has left an extensive spell of showers and strong storms in many regions in recent hours. The rain started on Thursday at midday, mainly in the Pyrenees, and gained ground. Since then and until this morning, thunder and showers have swept through a large part of the country, also reaching the entire coast, and in several cases, there have been true downpours that have left a lot of water in a short time. Only areas of Ponent and Ebre have remained on the sidelines of this episode. The most rainfall has been in the eastern Pyrenees and pre-Pyrenees, especially in Ripollès, northern Osona, and Berguedà, where total accumulations have been very significant and have caused various incidents and the sudden rise in the flow of rivers such as the Ter or Llobregat. More than 100 l/m² registered in some municipalities stand out, such as Campdevànol (Ripollès). Also accumulated were 90 l/m² in Sant Joan de les Abadesses and 75 in Sant Pau de Segúries (Ripollès), 90 in Montesquiu (Osona), or 73 at the Santuari de Queralt (Berguedà). Rain that has marred events like La Patum or Primavera Sound, while in the early morning hours a local downpour also left more than 50 l/m² in Les Cases d'Alcanar (Montsià).

The calm and sunny weather of Wednesday will not continue, as today the meteorological situation will become considerably complicated. The passage of an active front will reactivate instability, with a spell of showers and thunderstorms that between this afternoon and Friday morning will sweep across a large part of the country from northwest to southeast, also reaching a large part of the coast. During the morning there will be more clouds, with a more variable or partly cloudy sky. But beyond some initial drizzle, rain is not yet expected. It will be from midday when this episode will start from the Pyrenees and other mountainous areas, such as the pre-coastal range, and the rain will spread rapidly.

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 thermometers have taken a new step forward in recent hours. We wake up after a night that has registered more tropical lows, especially on the central coast, highlighting the extraordinary 23.4 ºC low at the Fabra observatory. But a separate case is the north of Alt Empordà, where due to the reheated tramuntana wind, torrid lows have been locally recorded, with values above 25 ºC. The 28 ºC low in Portbou stands out, a record for nocturnal heat in a May in Catalonia.

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.

Catalonia reached or exceeded 35 °C yesterday for the first time this year, and even 36 °C was recorded in very localized areas, with 36.1 °C standing out in Seròs (Segrià). Several municipalities in Ponent and the southern interior surpassed this mark of 35 °C, such as Torroja del Priorat, Albesa (Noguera) or Alcarràs, Alfarràs and Gimenells (Segrià). A premature heatwave that has caused, once again, the full summer atmosphere to arrive several weeks early. A weekend with a fully summery atmosphere awaits us, with highs around 35 °C in the warmest areas of the country and the first tropical nights. On the coast, the mercury will be clearly more restrained, and some fog or low clouds will appear, but it will be more muggy.