Spain records hottest summer on record as heatwaves and wildfires grip country
Spain endured 33 days of officially declared heatwaves in summer
- Spain experienced its hottest summer since records began in 1961, with an average temperature of 24.2C, 2.1C above the 1991-2020 average.
- The country endured 33 officially declared heatwave days, including a 16-day heatwave in August, where temperatures soared above 45C in the south.
- This extreme heat contributed to Spain's most destructive wildfire season in three decades, resulting in record carbon emissions and over a million hectares of land burned across the EU.
- The national meteorological service AEMET warned that these record-breaking conditions are a “trailer” for future summers due to climate change, with autumn also forecast to be unusually warm and dry.
- Spain, a highly climate-vulnerable nation that has already warmed by over 1.5C, is introducing compulsory climate emergency lessons for children as young as three.