The summer arrives with a heatwave: more than 40 °C in Ponent

The heat intensified clearly on Saturday, with the start of the weekend seeing maximum temperatures already reaching 38.8 °C in Alcarràs and exceeding the 38 °C mark in several places in the western and southern half of the country. This is only the beginning of a thermal escalation that will cause the mercury to rise every day, both day and night, and the first heatwave of the year. Suffocating days are expected, with up to 40 °C or more inland, and quite widespread sleepless nights, with the first torrid minimums around Barcelona. Meteocat has already issued the first official warnings for intense daytime heat in Ponent on Sunday, extending to many more regions on Monday. For its part, Civil Protection has activated the alert of the Procicat plan.

In some places, temperatures will be recorded between 9 and 13 °C above average. This episode coincides with the official start of astronomical summer, mid-morning this Sunday. And be careful because, even though the mercury will drop a little for Sant Joan, it will continue to be very hot for many days, a fact that requires extreme caution in the use of pyrotechnics due to the high risk of forest fires in many regions. All of this is the result of anticyclonic dominance and a powerful incursion of very warm air from North Africa that will intensify and embrace part of Europe, driven by the counterclockwise rotation of a low-pressure system located beyond the west of the Peninsula, with extreme heat in many countries, such as France.

Sunday: extreme heat

Thermometers will still rise further on the last day of the week, the first day of astronomical summer. And it will do so in grand style, as the heat will be extreme and the heatwave will begin. Many highs of 32 to 38 °C are expected, and 30 °C can also be exceeded on the coast, where there will be an increasingly pronounced feeling of stuffiness. The highest temperature values will be found in Ponent and the interior of the Ebre, where 40 °C will be locally exceeded for the first time this year. All this with sun, high clouds, and a lot of haze due to the presence of African dust in suspension, without ruling out some cloudiness and local showers in the Pyrenees and the Ports during the afternoon.

In this regard, there are active warnings for intense heat in the regions of Ponent and the northeast. Looking ahead to Monday, these warnings will extend to the entire center and west of the country, but also to the regions of Barcelona. In addition, some regions will reach a warning level of 4 out of 6 (orange level).

Monday: heatwave

The heatwave will peak on Monday, when many inland areas will reach 40°C, even reaching 42 or 43°C in areas such as Ponent or Ebre. The presence of suspended dust may dim the sun and slightly reduce solar radiation, but the mercury will climb everywhere, including during the night hours. Sunday's weather will be repeated, with sun and high clouds, but also with clouds in the Pyrenees and some scattered showers that could reach the Pre-Pyrenees.

Showers on the horizon

Starting Monday, the risk of afternoon showers will increase in the Pyrenees, while sun and suspended dust will continue in the rest of the territory. As the days go by, the temperature will slow down a bit, although it will remain above the climatic average, and instability will increase. In fact, showers and thunderstorms could reach some regions outside the Pyrenees, although this will need to be confirmed in the coming days.