Countdown to the return of extreme heat

BarcelonaThe week has started with quite bearable heat and great nights. Today, the highest highs have hovered around or very slightly exceeded 35 ºC inland. Although it may seem like a break from the heat, just a decade ago the values reached this Monday were typical of a summer heatwave day. But this respite will be short-lived, as in the coming days temperatures will rise considerably. On Tuesday we will already add a few degrees, but it will be especially from Wednesday that thermometers will soar again above average.

Therefore, we are on the verge of a new episode of intense and extreme heat, with up to 40 ºC or more towards the west and the Ebro valley. As this situation will last for several days – at least until next Monday – Meteocat warns that it is not ruled out that it may correspond to the fourth heatwave of the summer in some counties. This new incursion of very warm air and the anticyclone from North Africa will again embrace part of the European continent. And all this with more dust in suspension and no rain in sight.

Tuesday: temperature rises

Thermometers will take a step forward this Tuesday, both day and night. The night will no longer be so cool, although, in most regions, a luxurious night atmosphere will be maintained. Tropical minimums will be repeated only in points of the coast and the pre-coast. Maximums will rise especially in the Pyrenees, inland, and in the northeast, with more heat but still without reaching extremes. Most values will range between 32 and 37 ºC on the pre-coast and inland, but in Ponent these figures could be exceeded.

All this with absolute calm and radiant sun everywhere. The north wind will disappear completely from the ends of the country, and the anticyclonic ridge will embrace us. Despite some afternoon clouds in the Pyrenees, no showers are expected anywhere.

Unbridled heat in the coming days

Starting Wednesday, the heat will be extreme again. Temperatures will exceed 35 ºC in various inland and pre-coastal areas, while in Ponent, 40 ºC can already be reached or exceeded. Meteocat has already issued the first warnings for intense heat in several counties of Lleida for Wednesday, warning that this episode could lead to the fourth heatwave of the summer in inland areas.

A heatwave that will peak during the second half of the week, with a very warm atmosphere everywhere and marked stuffiness on the coast. Nights will also become increasingly warmer. France and the Benelux countries will also suffer extremely high temperatures for the umpteenth time this summer. A situation that will not help at all to extinguish the serious fires that are active in Spain and France, for example. All this without rain in sight, beyond some afternoon showers in the middle of the week in the Pyrenees.