Hottest October since 1961

Maximum daytime temperatures were as high as 6 degrees above average resulting in the first fortnight of October being “the hottest in Spain since at least 1961,” said Rivera.

He said that up until the middle of October on the mainland and the Balearics, weather conditions were a prolongation of the summer with continuing atmospheric high pressure. “If this weather had been happening in the summer,” said Rivera “it could have been compared to the heat wave of summer 2003.” During the first two weeks of the month, extreme temperatures in the west of Andalucia rose above 35 degrees Centigrade and above 30 degrees in other parts of the country. It was only from the 21st October in mountainous areas of the country when an Autumn chill first set in.

35 % less rainfall
AEMET reported that “despite recent intense rainfall, particularly on the mainland,” October has in general been a particularly dry month, with an average of 47 litres per square metre, 35 percent less than recorded during the period of historic average (1971 to 2000). The findings mean that for the whole of Spain, October has been the driest since 1998, said AEMET.

Rivera said that ratings for the Balearics in October were that the region was “dry, to very dry.” He reported that at a national level during the first two weeks of the month, there was hardly any rainfall at all, but conditions changed radically in the final 10 days