The thermometer of Portal de l'Àngel falls short: Barcelona already exceeds 40 ºC

Catalonia registers the first half of the hottest summer since 1950. This is according to the latest report from the Meteorological Service of Catalonia (Meteocat), which states that the average temperature is 3.8 °C above the climatic average, the highest since homogeneous data has been collected. However, there are symbols that explain better than any graph how the climate is changing in Catalonia. Like the thermometer at Portal de l'Àngel, designed to record maximum temperatures of 40 °C, which have already been exceeded in the city of Barcelona. Nevertheless, the thermometer has become one of the images of the new climatic scenario experienced in the country.

The start of summer has been marked by three practically consecutive heatwaves. The most notable heat episodes took place between June 21 and 24 and between July 5 and 10. According to Meteocat, on Wednesday, July 15, maximum temperatures of between 40 and 42 °C were reached in sectors of the pre-coastal area and Central Catalonia, where these values are unusual. This continuity of heat is also reflected in the data from the Network of Automatic Meteorological Stations (XEMA): since June 21, the intense heat threshold has been exceeded every day in at least one of the network's 184 stations. And at the moments of greatest heat extent, more than a hundred stations have simultaneously exceeded this threshold.

In this context, the thermometer at Portal de l'Àngel evidences how extreme temperatures have evolved in Catalonia. The thermometer was installed in 1956 and was designed to record temperatures of a maximum of 40 °C. Today, however, this limit is no longer sufficient to represent the values recorded both in Barcelona and in other parts of Catalan territory.