NEW data from Spain’s State Meteorological Agency (Aemet) paints a firm picture of a warming climate over recent years.
The records show that Spain has gone almost four years without a single record-breaking cold day.
The surprising figure comes despite a recent winter of relentless storms and rainfall that had gone some way to dispelling the notion that Spain is heating up.
The last time a cold temperature record was broken on the mainland was during a late spring frost in April 2022, while extreme heat events now vastly outnumber cold ones.
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In a stable climate, meteorologists would expect to see around five new cold records established every year.
Between 2022 and 2025, there should have been approximately 20 new cold records, but none have been recorded since April 3, 2022.
However, during this same four-year window, the country endured 100 new heat records.
When expanding the timeframe to the last decade, between 2016 and 2025, the disparity becomes even wider.
Over this ten-year period, Aemet recorded 220 hot day records compared to just seven for cold, meaning heat extremes are outpacing cold ones by a ratio of more than 30 to 1.
The warming trend continued through the most recent winter of 2025 to 2026, which Aemet classified as ‘very warm’ despite the storms.
Overall temperatures for the season were 1C higher than the historical average for the 1991 to 2020 reference period.
Despite a stormy winter that included cold snaps around Christmas, December and February saw temperatures well above normal, while January remained average.
This made it the ninth warmest winter since records began in 1961, and four of the eight warmest winters on record have all occurred since the 2019 to 2020 season.
February 2026 was particularly anomalous, registering temperatures 2.4C above the historical average.
It was the fourth warmest February since 1961, beaten only by the same month in 2020, 1990 and 2024.
February alone saw six new daily heat records broken on the 10th, 11th, 23rd, 24th, 25th and 26th of the month.
Mapping data comparing the early 1980s to the current decade illustrates the long-term impact on the Iberian Peninsula.
Between 1980 and 1984, the southern half of Spain typically experienced between 15 and 30 days a year with temperatures exceeding 29.4C.
In the period from 2020 to 2024, large areas of southern Spain recorded between 75 and 90 days a year above this threshold.
The records go to show that a warming climate in Spain is undeniable fact for Spain – regardless of the cause.
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