The widespread feeling this summer has been one of unbearable and endless heat, which is even extending into this early September. The Meteorological Service of Catalonia published this Wednesday its seasonal report for the meteorological summer – which ends at the end of August – and certifies that, indeed, this year's has been the warmest since records began. The average temperature for the country as a whole registered a thermal anomaly greater than +3.0 °C with respect to the reference period 1991-2020 in over 80% of the territory, while some locations, such as the western Pyrenees or the plain of Vic, have reached +4.0 °C above normal values for the time of year. Meteocat highlights that the twenty historical data series in the country, those exceeding 75 years of data, have recorded the warmest summer in their series, “and this result shows that the temperature record does not correspond to the exceptional behavior of a specific sector, but rather has occurred in a generalized manner across the entire territory”.

In view of the heavy rain that is expected to affect Catalonia in the coming hoursThe Meteorological Service and Civil Protection have issued a general call for calm, but without letting their guard down: people should be careful when moving around, avoid flood-prone areas, and be aware of the weather if engaging in outdoor activities.

The Catalan Meteorological Service presented this Thursday, at the San Sebastián de Palafrugell lighthouse (Baix Empordà), the project to digitize meteorological observations carried out between the mid-19th and mid-20th centuries at nine emblematic lighthouses on the Costa Brava. This project, which has had the collaboration of the Girona Historical Archive, has successfully cataloged and digitally stored a set of 44,168 images containing weather observations from the lighthouses of San Sebastián, Cap de Creus, Cadaqués, Tossa de Mar, Puerto de la Selva, Las Palacios, and Roses from 1853 to 1956.