No rain in Spain: April 2023 on its way to being the driest since records began

APRIL 2023 is on its way to being the driest since records began, with just five litres of rain per square metre detected in the first 16 days of the month. 

That’s according to data from the Aemet state weather service, which has called the figures ‘extraordinarily low’ for the fourth month of the year, coming in at just 15% of the monthly average of 63.5 litres per square metre.

‘It is very likely that we will not reach that average this month,’ said Ruben del Campo, spokesperson from Aemet, in comments reported by news agency Europa Press. 

He said that the agency was not ruling out this month being the driest April since records began in 1961. 

The current record for the fourth month of the year is 1995, when just 23 litres of rain fell in Spain per square metre. 

There are, however, showers forecast for Friday and Saturday in parts of Spain, which could serve to alleviate the situation. 

The rain is not predicted to be very heavy nor persistent, but, according to Del Campo, ‘at least it will rain in a lot of areas where it hasn’t done so for more than a month’. 

In Madrid, for example, there has been no rainfall registered since March 8. 

What’s more, in Teruel, La Mancha, Madrilejos in Toledo and Tomelloso in Ciudad Real, there has been no significant rainfall this whole year. That’s according to a study from Eltiempo.es, cited by Spanish daily El Pais. 

Aemet has also warned that the risk of forest fires will also be very high if the current conditions continue, due to the lack of rain as well as the unusually high temperatures being registered for this time of year.

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