IT might just be safe to go back into the sun after meteorologists reported that the recent deadly heat wave is over.
Experts have confirmed that the heatwave has already gone down in Spanish weather history after Spain recorded its hottest days for a month of June since at least 1950.
June 23 has just beaten the record for the hottest day across the country as a whole, particularly impacting the usually cooler northern areas.
Even though the south tends to suffer the highest peaks, it was communities such as Galicia and Cantabria that hit highs of 39.4C and 43.7C respectively – both new records.
Bilbao also set records when the thermometer hit 40C on three days for the first time – not just in the same year but in the same single month.
It’s the minimum temperatures, however, that have become more worrying than the maximum, after sweltering nights proliferated across the country.
The night of June 22 reached a nationwide average of 20.14C, kickstarting a season of tropical nights for many cities across the country.
Since the 1980s, Europe has been experiencing an increased frequency of tropical nights, those in which the temperature does not drop below 20C.
Climate change studies warn that these nights deny the body a vital recovery window from daytime heat, placing the cardiovascular system under constant strain.
The heatwave has affected all of Western Europe, leading to the closure of schools, withdrawal of many unprepared forms of transport and even deaths.
Spain continues to cross through an extreme heat episode that will make a comeback by the end of the month, so citizens are advised to take precaution against rising temperatures.
Click here to read more Andalucia News from The Olive Press.
