13/09/2013 00:00
TW
0
STAFF REPORTER MAKE the most of the late summer temperatures which are reportedly as much as 7 degrees over the average for the time of year - the Balearic Met Office warned yesterday that there are going to be some major changes tomorrow.

Maximum temperatures registered on the island yesterday peaked at Sa Pobla where the mercury shot up to 34.8 degrees. The norm for this early autumnal period is 28 degrees meaning a difference of 6.8. In Palma meanwhile, the 30 degrees recorded at Portopi mean that the temperature was 3 degrees higher than average at this time. Humidity, which exacerbates the effect of heat, played a big part in making the warm weather so exhausting - in Pollensa it struck the 98 percent mark but somewhat less in Palma at 88 percent.

Meanwhile though, suffocating conditions will continue today. Agustin Jansa, director at the Regional Met Office, explained yesterday that the intense heat is triggered by a hot front bearing down on the Balearic Islands from the African continent. Sharply, the atmosphere is predicted to change quite dramatically tomorrow with the arrival of a cold front, triggering a significant downturn in temperatures accompanied by rainfall. The instability will continue into Saturday but a return to summer sunshine will creep in on Sunday, thankfully without the high oppressive temperatures of the earlier part of the week. This August, say Met Office records, has been the driest on record for the past couple of decades and with only three weeks to go to the anniversary of last year's autumn tornado which took Palma by devastating surprise, the mood across the region is one of uncertainty. Areas of the mainland of Spain have already had heavy rainfall resulting in flash flooding.

Looking at wider weather patterns over Spain, the National Met Office reported yestserday that areas of Minorca and Catalonia are to suffer similar drastic weather changes tomorrow. There will be dense cloud over the Balearics with moderate showers developing into storm conditions over Majorca and Minorca. Showers and weaker storms will feature on Saturday in Catalonia and the Balearics, gusting strongly with a north wind in Majorca and Minorca. Sunday holds a strong probability of moderate showers on Majorca and Minorca early in the day, possibly with strong local rainfall but sunshine will start to break through once more.