The heat will intensify even more, both day and night.

BarcelonaTemperatures had already risen sharply on Friday in many regions, especially inland, but they soared this Saturday, with the mercury surpassing 42°C (you'll find all the data at the end of this report). The new mass of very warm air from North Africa is beginning to embrace us fully, and for the next few days, the weather will be persistently torrid, giving rise to the first heat wave of the year.

The episode will last from this weekend to the middle of next week, and will mainly affect the Ponent region, the Ebro Valley, and the coast, where nights will be sleepless. A placid weather situation that will only be disturbed by the formation of some showers in the Pyrenees, which could intensify by Monday.

Sunday: torrid atmosphere day and night

Nighttime temperatures will rise even further, and the night will be sleepless on the coast, where temperatures will be difficult to drop below 22 or 23°C. There will be even more torrid lows, an extreme nighttime temperature that the city of Barcelona has been recording for over a week and which will gradually spread to more municipalities. Tropical lows will also be present in many coastal areas of the pre-coastal region and inland.

Meteocat has also activated a nighttime heat alert for several coastal regions in the center and north of the country. The warning is grade 3 out of 6 (orange) in Barcelonès and Maresme, where the night will be torrid.

Maximum temperatures will rise further in much of the coast and pre-coast, while remaining similar to the rest. This will mark the beginning of the harshest days of the heat wave. The highest temperatures in the Ebro Valley and the Ebro River Valley are not ruled out, with temperatures reaching 41 or 42°C again. The entire coast and the regions of Ponent and Terres de l'Ebre are on alert due to this dangerous weather situation.

All with bright sunshine and only a few afternoon clouds in mountain areas, which at most will leave a few local showers in the Pyrenees—especially the eastern one—and inland areas of Castellón and Valencia.

Monday: intense heat and more afternoon showers

The week will begin with somewhat more unstable weather due to the entry of more cold air from high altitude, although this will only result in showers and thunderstorms concentrated in the eastern Pyrenees and other inland and northern regions of the country, locally accompanied by thunderstorms and hail or stones. Elsewhere, the sun will remain dominant, with the heat continuing. Intense muggy conditions will be expected along the coast, with scorching lows in many cases, and midday temperatures above 35°C practically everywhere inland, with the exception of mid- and high-mountain areas.

Balance of the beginning of the heat wave

Temperatures had already begun to rise sharply this Friday, especially inland, and have continued to rise further at the start of the weekend. Very intense heat throughout, leaving many highs of 33 to 37°C, but locally higher. In fact, to the west, inland from the Ebro River and in Priorat, temperatures exceeded 38 and 39°C, and have already reached 41 or 42°C locally. Specifically in Vinebre (Ribera d'Ebre), with 42.9°C, the highest high of the day (and provisionally of the year) in the entire country. This is the summary of the highest maximum temperatures reached since Friday:

• 42.9 °C: Vinebre
• 41.2 °C: Ribarroja Reservoir
• 41.2 °C: Torroja del Priorat
• 41.1 °C: El Masroig
• 40.8 °C: Siurana Reservoir
• 40.1 °C: Cabins
• 39.9 °C: Benissanet
• 39.7 °C: Ascó
• 39.8 °C: Seròs
• 39.5 °C: Torres de Segre

Furthermore, the night from Friday to Saturday was very warm, with some exceptionally high minimum temperatures. Of note were 29°C in Llançà and 28.1°C in Portbou, in the Alt Empordà region, due to the heated north wind that blew during the early hours. In the city of Barcelona, temperatures also did not drop below 26 or 27°C, a situation that will be repeated in the coming days.