Tropical weather prevails in the Iberian Peninsula.

Temperatures will not drop below 20 degrees in almost all of Spain over the next few nights.

In this case, meteorologists speak of tropical nights: In the Andalusian province of Jaen, the lowest temperatures could then be 27 degrees, while 43 degrees were measured there during the day.

The heat wave that started on Sunday could last until Friday, according to the Aemet weather service, which is issuing heat warnings for more and more regions.

Inland and on the Balearic Islands, the average daily temperature will be around 35 degrees these days, in the capital Madrid there is a risk of up to 40 degrees.

May 21, 2022 was already the warmest day of May on the entire Spanish peninsula since weather records began more than 70 years ago.

Hans Christian Roessler

Political correspondent for the Iberian Peninsula and the Maghreb based in Madrid.

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After that unusually early summer episode, the earliest heat wave since 1981 has now begun, continuing the trend of summer starting earlier and lasting longer.

The weather service Aemet speaks of a high probability that Spain is facing "very warm" summer months that will be warmer than usual.

“The data is overwhelming.

The heat waves of the past decade up to 2020 are twice as frequent as in previous decades," says Aemet chief meteorologist Rubén del Campo - and man-made greenhouse gases are responsible for this.

There used to be a maximum of a dozen heat waves in ten years, but recently there were 24.

It's getting hotter

Last summer, a Spanish record was broken with 47.1 degrees, which, according to the meteorologist, will not be the last: "Spain could reach 50 degrees in the next decade," Rubén del Campo told the newspaper "La Vanguardia".

This could happen, for example, in Córdoba, Seville or Zaragoza if high emissions continue.

Researchers warned some time ago that in 2050 it could be as hot in Madrid as in Marrakech, Morocco.

High temperatures and the prevailing drought have already caused the first forest fires this year.

The worst has been raging above the Costa del Sol in the Sierra Bermeja for almost a week.

More than 3500 hectares of forest fell victim to the flames, which hundreds of firefighters are only slowly controlling.

Just ten months ago, 10,000 hectares were burned in the area.

The heat wave had also sparked two forest fires in Catalonia.