Temperatures may reach 40º C this weekend

PALMA
A mass of hot air from Africa will push temperatures up to 40º Celsius in a large part of the Peninsula and some parts of the Balearics this weekend, according to a report from the National Institute of Meteorology (INM).

The forecast said that the increase in temperatures would be significant in the centre of Spain, the north east and south, where the maximum temperatures will be around 37ºC in the Ebro valley and 40ºC or more in Andalucia and the south of Castille-La Mancha.

The increase in temperature is expected to be slightly less fierce in the Balearics.
The temperatures are expected to go down slightly in the west and north of the Peninsula early next week, but they will remain high in the Balearics and a large part of the south east.

The worst of the heat will be felt in Murcia, eastern Andalucia and the south east of Castille-La Mancha, where it will continue to be around 40ºC well into next week.

The average temperature in Palma so far this month has been 1º Celsius higher than the historical average for July, according to Agusti Jansa, the local weather man.

However, this was because night time temperatures have been higher than usual -- on July 8 and 9 the minimum temperature was more than 23º C, and all the minimums this month have been higher than 20ºC.

The maximum daytime temperature in Palma so far this month has been 34ºC at Son Sant Joan.
Temperatures in the rest of the island have been close to the historical averages, Jansa said.
Average temperatures during the spring were on the whole 1.5º C higher than the average for the past 30 years, he said. The hottest day in June was the 18th, when the thermometer hit 33º C in Palma.

At the time, the Met Office predicted a hotter summer than normal in the Balearics and the whole of the Mediterranean basin and it looks as though this prediction is coming true.