Mallorca enjoyed a fine start to the year. | Majorca Daily Bulletin reporter

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Last month was wet in terms of rainfall but was also extremely warm, the warmest January since records began (1961), 0.4 degrees warmer than January 2016, until now the warmest January on record.

January recorded an average over mainland Spain of 8.4 degrees, 2.4 degrees above the average for this month, according to the monthly balance issued by the Aemet met. office, which details that it was extremely warm in the south and centre of the mainland and warm or very warm in the northern third, even normal in the Ebro valley.

In the Balearics it was very warm and in the Canary Islands it was very warm or extremely warm.
In the Balearics it was the second warmest January since 1961 and tied with 1982, with an average temperature of 12.2 °C, which is 1.7 more than normal, and with record daily maximum temperatures and also record high minimum temperatures.

Daily maximum temperatures averaged 2.5 degrees above normal, while minimum temperatures were 2.3 degrees above average with a daily temperature variation 0.2 degrees above normal for the month.

At thirty main weather stations, the average January temperature was the highest in the series, at thirty-one, the average daily maximum was the highest since the beginning of the observations, and at twelve, the average minimum was also the highest since the beginning of the respective series.

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In addition, there were three warm spells, with both maximum and minimum temperatures well above normal values: the first was between January 1 and 4, the second between days 13 and 19, and the last, the most intense, between days 21 and 31.

There was a cold spell, with temperatures below normal for the time of year, especially the maximum temperatures, between days 6 and 12, and also on the 20th they were below normal values.

The highest temperatures among main stations corresponded to Gran Canaria/airport, where 30.8 degrees were recorded on the 16th; Fuerteventura/airport, with 29.9 degrees on the 16th; Hierro/airport, with 28.7 degrees also on the 16th, and Tenerife South/airport, where 28.4 degrees were measured on the 30th.

Twenty-nine main stations recorded the highest daily maximum temperature for a month of January since records began.
In terms of precipitation, January was wet, with an average precipitation value on the mainland of 67.5 litres per square metre.
This was the 26th wettest January since records began in 1961 and the tenth wettest in the 21st century.

However, the Balearics is now braced for a fall in temperatures, some rain and stroing winds over the coming days as an Atlantic front moves across the country.