Between two heatwaves: we take advantage of the brief respite

The drop in temperatures has been evident since the beginning of July in a large part of the country, especially at night. Early this Thursday, the atmosphere was excellent, with lows that dropped below 15 °C in inland areas and below 10 °C in the Pyrenees. Tropical lows were only recorded on the coast, in the Ebro Delta and Empordà. During the day, the heat was moderate, with the exception of the central and southern pre-coastal areas and the Camp de Tarragona, where the warm westerly wind caused thermometers to climb to 35 or 36 °C. For example, the maximum temperatures of over 36 °C in Sant Salvador de Guardiola, Tarragona, Cambrils and Aldover stand out, or the 35 °C in Terrassa (Vallès Occidental).

But this respite that temperatures are giving us will not last long, as from the weekend and during the coming week the heat will skyrocket again and be extreme, when we had not yet recovered from the previous episode. Meteocat has already issued a pre-alert for the second heatwave of the little that we have had of summer, from Sunday until at least next Wednesday.

Friday: still moderate heat

Temperatures will rise a little more, both day and night. Nevertheless, nights will be very comfortable again in most regions, with tropical lows concentrated only on the coast, as well as in Empordà due to the effect of heated tramuntana wind, without ruling out some locally torrid low. Most maximums will range between 31 and 36 °C, but towards Ponent and the Ebro valley they will already be between 36 and 38 °C, with perhaps some cases of 39 °C. They will remain below 30 °C still in the Pyrenees.

A warm, mid-summer day, but still far from the extremes of a heatwave. All in all, still with a north wind at the extremes, although in the afternoon only the tramuntana will remain in Empordà. Radiant sun will dominate everywhere without exception.

Awaiting the heatwave

On Saturday, temperatures will remain similar to Friday's or rise slightly. It will be from Sunday onwards that the mercury will really shoot up, and even more so at the beginning of next week. It will then be when we experience the second heatwave of the summer, with many highs of 35 to 40 °C, higher in the hottest areas inland, especially in Ponent and the Ebro valley.

On the coast, temperatures will also exceed 30°C and there will be a lot of mugginess during this episode. At the same time, oppressive and restless nights will also return to many regions. Extreme heat will also spread again to more areas of central and western Europe, as the anticyclone and the gust of very warm North African air will strengthen again. We will have to closely monitor this situation to see the extent of this new heatwave, as the previous one left many records across the continent.