Without a clear end to the suffocating heat and sleepless nights

BarcelonaThe heat is relentless and this Monday, despite the thermometer dropping in many regions, the fully heatwave atmosphere has continued, with very marked mugginess on the coast. Only in areas of the Pyrenees, the northeast interior, and the central pre-coastal range has it cooled down more thanks to afternoon showers and thunderstorms that, in some cases, have been accompanied by hail or sleet. For example, the heavy downpour that left 70 l/m² in Santa Coloma de Farners (Selva) suddenly dropped the mercury from nearly 36 ºC maximum to 18 ºC. In Camprodon (Ripollès) more than 45 l/m² have accumulated.

All this after the last night has been especially warm and sleepless, with generalized tropical minimums and torrid ones on points of the coast, especially in the city of Barcelona, where in neighborhoods like the Raval it has not dropped below 27°C. Sleepless nights that will continue, especially near the sea.

On Tuesday the thermometers will rise a little, but on Wednesday they will drop, coinciding with the beginning of July, thanks to the strengthening of the north wind. An attempt at normalization of the mercury that will last little, since in the second half of the week the temperatures will rise again and the suffocating heat will return, with 40°C inland. There is no clear end in sight for these exceptionally high values.

Tuesday: heavy night and more heat

Tonight will be heavy and restless again, with many tropical lows across the territory. However, they will drop slightly because there will be less cloudiness than last night. On coastal points, torrid lows will be repeated above 25°C, especially in the city of Barcelona and in the north of the Costa Brava due to the reheated tramuntana. Meteocat maintains alerts for nocturnal heat on the coast and pre-coast of Barcelona and Girona.

The highs will temporarily rise this last day of June, with many values from 32 to 38°C, even reaching 40°C in Ponent or the Ebro valley. There are alerts activated for daytime heat on the south coast, between Garraf and Montsià. A new suffocating day that will be accompanied by sun and calm, but in the afternoon clouds will grow again in the north of the country, leaving new irregular showers and thunderstorms. They will mainly affect points in the Pyrenees, as well as more locally the eastern pre-Pyrenees and the northeastern interior. Meteocat maintains the warning for intense rain in Ripollès and Garrotxa. The mistral and tramuntana winds will blow at dawn and in the morning at the extremities, and in the afternoon it will only remain in the north of Alt Empordà.

Extreme heat temporarily eases

On Wednesday, the north wind will strengthen and bring cooler air at higher altitudes. This will cause thermometers to drop quite generally. The decrease will be most noticeable inland and in the Pyrenees, while on the coast it will be more discreet, where the mugginess will persist and nights will continue to be restless.

But this decrease will be temporary and only an attempt at normalizing temperatures, as outside the Pyrenees values will still remain above average. And be aware that during the second half of the week, the anticyclone and the warm air mass will strengthen again in our region and in Western Europe, with temperatures set to rise significantly again.

Therefore, the heat will return to be suffocating and extreme this coming weekend, with maximums of 35 to 40 °C inland. This extraordinarily warm weather has no end. For its part, the sea temperature has soared in recent days, with a marine heatwave on many European coasts.