Alex Trelinski
SPAIN has enjoyed another ‘warm’ winter according to the state weather forecaster, Aemet, which says there’s a high probability of a mild spring.
The meteorological spring season starts on March 20, and early projections suggest that coastal areas and the islands will enjoy above average temperatures.
Aemet spokesperson, Ruben Del Campo, said on Tuesday that the current winter was the seventh in succession to beat average temperature values.
READ MORE:
He added that along with the previous winter, there was an absence of cold spells, from a meteorological perspective.
“Of the last 10 winters only one has been cold, while the rest have been warm or very warm and since the beginning of the current set of measurements in 1961, it is the first time that any season has been warmer than normal for seven years in a row,” said Del Campo.
The winter temperatures had an average of 7.8C, some 1.2C degrees above the average and was the sixth warmest winter since 1961 and the fifth warmest of the 21st century.
The one recent winter that was colder than average was that of 2017-18.
A significant warm spell was recorded between February 9 and 22.
The highest temperatures were measured on December 15 at La Palma airport with 28.8C, while on the Spanish mainland, Murcia reached 28.1C on January 27.
Despite recent rain, winter comes out overall as dry, with an average value over mainland Spain of 145.9 litres per m2.
It was the sixteenth driest winter since 1961 and the seventh of the 21st century.
As for spring, Ruben Del Campo said that ‘no surprises are expected’ and suggested that there is between a 60% and 70% chance that it will be warmer than normal, especially in the Cantabrian Sea, the Mediterranean Sea, and the islands.
The last cold spring was in 2018, and since then the season each year has recorded above average temperatures.
