The suffocating heat has returned. This Wednesday has been a very warm day and temperatures have already reached 40°C in Ponent, but this figure has also been approached in other inland areas, such as the Pre-Pyrenees. Notable are the 40.4°C maximum in Lleida or the 39.9°C in Montesquiu (Osona) and Alcarràs (Segrià). The official start has been given to the new episode of extreme heat in our region, the umpteenth since the summer began and which will last for several days, at least for a week. As it is very likely that heat thresholds will be exceeded for three consecutive days in several counties, this episode is considered a heatwave, especially in the interior of the country.

Thermometers have started to rise in recent hours. Yesterday the heat was already more intense, although still without major extremes. 38 ºC were exceeded in Ponent, as well as 37 ºC in the Pre-Pyrenees and in other parts of the interior. The night has been milder, and some torrid minimums have reappeared in the center of Barcelona and in the south of the country, highlighting the 26 ºC minimum in Alfacs (Montsià) and in the Raval neighborhood of the Catalan capital. And it is that from today the thermometers will skyrocket more and 40 ºC can already be reached in Ponent, as well as many maximums of 36 to 39 ºC in the rest of the interior. Meteocat has already issued the first warnings for intense heat from this Wednesday in the regions of Lleida, the Pyrenees and Pre-Pyrenees, Central Catalonia and the coast of Barcelona. This new episode of extreme heat will last at least until the middle of next week, and will probably become the fourth heatwave of the summer in Catalonia.

We leave behind a weekend marked by the change in air masses that has swept away the warm bubble and suspended African dust, with the entry of cold at altitude. All this has caused a clear cooling, as well as strong storms in various regions, especially during Saturday and early Sunday morning. A much more comfortable atmosphere - with bearable summer heat at midday and cool at night - that will still hold today. But this respite will not continue, as in the coming days a new irruption of warm North African air will push thermometers above average, with the return of intense heat. By mid-week, temperatures will reach 40 ºC again in western Catalonia.

The excess of tourism ends up turning against the society that promoted and benefited from it. In the Balearic Islands, this has long been a social, economic, and environmental reality. Also in Catalonia, and especially in Barcelona. Through excess, we are killing the goose that lays the golden eggs. The tourist carrying capacity of cities and various territories has a limit beyond which the harmful collateral effects can become greater than the gains. We cannot renounce the wealth of tourism, but we must undoubtedly put a limit on it.

The passage of an upper trough has changed the weather in recent hours. Thunderstorms have discharged with intensity due to the generation of large convection clouds fueled by cold air that has dropped from more northerly latitudes. This clash of air masses with very different conditions has contributed to intense showers, accompanied by electrical apparatus, hail, and sleet (for example, yesterday afternoon, in Arbúcies). Until mid-afternoon on Saturday, we had already accumulated up to 35 l/m² in Sant Llorenç Savall and between 15 and 30 l/m² around the Montseny massif.

Yesterday we experienced the last day of extreme heat of the week. Temperatures dropped inland, but still reached 38 or 39°C in Ponent, the Tremp basin, or the Pre-Pyrenees. It will be this weekend – the last of July – when the arrival of a clearly colder air mass will sweep away the warm bubble and the suspended African dust, with a north wind and a clear drop in thermometers.

Yesterday's heat peak in the interior of the country left maximums of up to 40 ºC or more in Ponent and the southern interior of the country. The extraordinary maximum of 43.2 ºC recorded in Vinebre (Ribera d’Ebre), 42.2 ºC in Torroja del Priorat, or 41.7 ºC in Ascó (Ribera d'Ebre) stand out. But while in some regions the thermometer hit its peak, in the Pyrenees the afternoon storms were stronger and more widespread than expected, a result of the same extreme heat accumulated. These precipitations left little remarkable records, but they suddenly cooled the atmosphere and were accompanied in some cases by hail or sleet. The 21 l/m² accumulated in Sant Joan de les Abadesses (Ripollès) stand out. The showers also reached the rest of the north of the Girona regions.

Attention today because thermometers will skyrocket inland: a peak of extreme heat will occur, which will be especially pronounced in Ponent and the Ebro Valley, where maximums of between 41°C and 44°C may be reached. 40°C will also be registered in other inland areas. Meteocat has activated alerts for intense heat this Thursday throughout the interior, the Pyrenees, and the pre-Pyrenees, with a red alert – the highest possible – in Segrià and Ribera d’Ebre. Alerts are also maintained in the west for Friday.

The heat and stuffiness are relentless and, in fact, yesterday they intensified, with highs returning to between 36 and 40 ºC inland. Temperatures around 40 ºC were reached, especially in Ponent and the southern interior, but also in some parts of central Catalonia or the northeastern interior, with extreme heat. Notably, 40.6 ºC were recorded in Cardona, in Bages.

Rain has been scarce in recent months, but yesterday afternoon showers and storms arrived in the Terres de l'Ebre which quickly spread to more areas of the coast and pre-coast. Notable were the 12 l/m² that fell in Falset (Priorat) or the 11 in Benissanet (Ribera d'Ebre). The surprise was that, in some cases, the storms were accompanied by brief sudden downpours, hail, or strong winds, a result of so much accumulated heat. This was the case in L'Hospitalet de Llobregat and the south of the city of Barcelona, where gusts close to 120 km/h were recorded and a squall occurred. A sudden and very strong wind that caused trees to fall and various damage.

The weekend has been marked by the same meteorological trend that has accompanied us for the last month, with intense heat and practically no rainfall anywhere. The temperature did not reach 40 °C, but it approached 38 °C or 39 °C in parts of the Ponent region and the interior of the Ebro valley, while on the coast the mugginess was very pronounced. All this in anticipation of a new thermal rise during the first days of this new week, although with hope placed on a possible progressive normalization of thermometers from Thursday or Friday onwards.

The weekend has started with a meteorological tone practically identical to the rest of the week, with very high temperatures that on Saturday again approached 39 °C in Ponent and exceeded 35 °C in practically any point of the interior. An intense and long-lasting heat that will continue also for Sunday and early next week, with maximums that will again seek the 40 °C mark and generalized tropical or torrid minimums.

This Friday, temperatures once again exceeded 38°C or 39°C in the northeast and south interior of the country, as well as in the Pla de Bages. And this intense heat and stuffiness of the last few hours will continue throughout the weekend. The atmosphere will be one of full heatwave, and the temperature will still be between three and five degrees above the climatic average. Therefore, it will be necessary to keep sweating hard, although without reaching great extremes. Nights will remain sleepless, especially on the coast, pre-coast, south, and west, with a heavy feeling near the sea due to the high humidity. All this with absolute calm, general sunshine, and few nuances, and there will still be African dust in suspension.

The atmosphere has continued to be very warm and muggy these past few hours. Yesterday was a very heavy day, and tonight it has once again been warm and sleepless in several counties. Despite this oppressive atmosphere, yesterday the extremes of Wednesday were no longer reached, as temperatures dropped and 40 ºC were no longer recorded anywhere. The problem is that the high humidity makes the thermal sensation very pronounced, especially along the coast and pre-coast. Intervals of clouds and drizzles accompanied by mud contributed yesterday to increasing the feeling of mugginess, and only in the Pyrenees and Pre-Pyrenees did showers and thunderstorms fall with more force and eyes.

We wake up after a night that has been restless and very warm in general. Widespread tropical minimums have been recorded, but also many torrid ones on the coast, in the south, and in Ponent, with marked – and in some cases unbearable – sultriness on the coast and pre-coast. However, from today onwards, thermometers will start to drop, and the heat will become less extreme, with variable or partly cloudy skies and the risk of showers accompanied by mud in some regions. Despite everything, the very warm atmosphere, intense sultriness on the coast and pre-coast, and values above the climatic average will continue. No significant drop in mercury or a clearer unstable situation is expected for at least another seven to ten days.

This week's episode of intense heat and mugginess will experience a sudden peak this Wednesday. The night has been generally tropical, and scorching in spots along the coast, the south, and at high elevations of the pre-coastal area. And today, the strengthening of the re-heated wind between southwest and west will suddenly send temperatures soaring in many regions, especially along the coast, the pre-coastal area, the Ebro region, and Central Catalonia. Extreme wind and heat that will increase the risk of fire and poor conditions in the forests. It will be a scorching day, with highs reaching or exceeding 40 ºC in many areas of the pre-coastal region, Central Catalonia, Ponent, and the Ebro valley, as well as 35 ºC on the coast. Meteocat has activated the alert for intense heat throughout the country, with a red warning – the highest possible – for the Barcelona pre-coastal area.

The extreme heat has given a little respite this weekend, with very high values, but without the records of a few days ago. Throughout the week, temperatures will rise and the peak of the new episode of extreme heat will arrive, which will be even more intense than the previous ones. However, the presence of thin clouds or suspended dust can dampen the radiation and prevent the thermometer from soaring so much in the end. We are fully at the gates of what will be the third heatwave of the summer, when we will not have even recovered from the second one. Its peak will arrive between Wednesday and Friday. The stuffiness will make it impossible to rest on the coast, with torrid nights. In Ponent or Ebre, thermometers could reach or exceed 42°C maximum in the middle of the week.

Extreme heat has given a little respite this weekend, with very high values, but without the records of a few days ago. Yesterday, Saturday, many observatories in Ponent again brushed 38°C, with a lot of sultriness on the coast, due to low clouds. From today, temperatures will rise again and a new heat episode will begin. We are on the verge of what will be the third heatwave of the summer, when we will not yet have recovered from the second. The suffocating atmosphere gives no respite and after the sultriness we will again suffer a new influx of dry African air, with predicted values of up to 28°C at 1,500 m. This situation will cause thermometers to exceed 40°C again in many areas.