Meteorologists such as Agustí Jansà, the former delegate in the Balearics for the Spanish met agency Aemet, have been suggesting that summer has been "eating into" the end of spring in Mallorca and the Balearics. This is because meteorological data indicate that the hotter temperatures of summer are arriving ever earlier.
The current delegate, María José Guerrero, agrees with this, and she highlights the fact that the islands have this year registered the first ever heat wave in astronomical spring, which came to an end at 11.14am on Tuesday.
There have been previous heat waves in June, but these have occurred in astronomical summer. This June's heat wave has set temperature records or registered the highest June values for decades at some weather stations. There have also been records for the highest minimum temperatures. Guerrero says that there have been five days of heat wave - "longer than normal".
She also points to an increase in the number of tropical nights in spring, when temperatures are 20 degrees or above. The first were in May. In terms of the meteorological data, astronomical summer actually started on June 12.
Rainfall this spring was above normal. For Mallorca, the average is 124 litres per square metre; this year's average was 140.3 litres. There were some torrential downpours. On May 25, there were 64 litres per square metre at Portopí in Palma, 30.8 of which fell in ten minutes - the highest amount to fall over a ten-minute period since records started to be collected at Portopí in 1978.
As to the summer, Guerrero forecasts that it will be "hot and dry". "The average temperature for the season, 24 degrees, will be exceeded." The average rainfall for summer is 86 litres per square metre. "Predictions point to lower amounts."
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