The first heatwave of summer is already knocking at the door

BarcelonaFar from ending, the heatwave we are experiencing in Catalonia has intensified this Wednesday, with temperatures reaching over 38°C in the Ebre's interior and Ponent – notably 38.7°C reached in the city of Lleida itself – and 35°C in other inland areas. After such a scorching day, on Thursday the mercury will drop slightly temporarily, although the atmosphere will remain very warm. But all eyes are on the weekend, when the heat will be more extreme and the first heatwave of the summer in our region will most likely begin. An episode that will last at least until Sant Joan, with many highs of 35 to 40°C. Meteocat has already issued a prior notice in this regard for intense heat between Sunday and at least Tuesday, especially in the inland counties.

This fact will coincide fully with the official arrival, on Sunday, of the astronomical summer and Saint John's Day. All of this is the result of a gust of very warm air coming from North Africa and an anticyclone that will embrace a large part of Europe in the coming days, with extraordinary heat in a generalized way.

Thursday: small changes in temperatures

Temperatures will remain very high for the dates this Thursday, but will recede slightly and temporarily. A slight decrease that will be barely noticeable, as it will continue to be very hot. The night will be quite mild in general, with new tropical minimums in parts of the coast and pre-coast. And most maximums will range between 30 and 35°C, although in Ponent and the Ebro valley these figures will be exceeded again. In mountainous areas and coastal stretches, the mercury will remain below 30°C, with sultriness on the coast.

All in all with sun and absolute calm. There will only be some morning mists or low clouds, as well as some brushstrokes of decorative thin clouds. Afternoon cloudiness will leave fewer showers than in recent days in the Pyrenees, and will mainly affect the western sector. Not much at all.

Heatwave on the weekend

On Friday, temperatures will still remain similar to Thursday's, but from the weekend onwards they will increase more significantly. Scorching days are expected until at least the middle of next week. The mercury will reach or exceed 35°C across much of the country, but in the hottest inland areas, it will approach 40°C, especially in the Ebro valley and Ponent. We are on the verge of the first official heatwave of summer in our region.

As we can see in the following map, from the weekend the temperature at 1,500 m altitude will be around 25 °C in Catalonia and 30 °C in the south of the Peninsula, values totally out of place.

Furthermore, tropical nights will extend across many regions. Even on the coast, the mugginess will be very marked and torrid nights will be recorded, which is when the minimum temperatures do not drop below 25°C. An exceptional situation of very intense heat that will also affect the rest of the Iberian Peninsula and a large part of Europe. All this with sun, suspended dust and only some local afternoon showers in the Pyrenees.