Warmer autumn follows "tropical" summer in Mallorca

This autumn expect the same rainfall. | JOAN TORRES

Majorca Daily Bulletin reporterPalma20/09/2019 04:01

Autumn starts on Monday and Aemet is predicting that it will be warmer than normal and in line with the summer, for which the average temperature has been one degree above the historical norm.

The met agency believes that rainfall this autumn will be roughly the same as the average of 218 litres per square metre; this average is taken from all the weather stations.

Summer in the Balearics, says Aemet, has been drier than usual, although downpours in late August and in the second week of September have reduced the rainfall deficit from 50% to 37%. Some extreme conditions this summer, the agency states, are symptomatic of climate change. There have been records for high temperatures, more "tropical nights" and torrential rain of a level not previously recorded.

In Majorca, there has been a doubling in the number of tropical nights, when the temperature doesn't dip below 20C. With regard to high temperatures in the day, these topped 40C at the end of June. In July, the highest in Majorca was 40.9C on the seventh. Record rainfall for the time of year was in late August when 97 litres per square metre fell in an hour in Santanyi.