MADRID: A 16-day heatwave Spain suffered this month was “the most intense on record”, the country’s State Meteorological Agency (AEMET) said on Sunday (Aug 24).
Provisional readings for the Aug 3 to Aug 18 heatwave exceeded the last record, set in July 2022, and showed an average temperature 4.6°C higher than for previous such phenomena, the agency said on X.
The August heatwave exacerbated tinderbox conditions in Spain that fuelled wildfires that continue to ravage parts of the north and west of the country.
More than 1,100 deaths in Spain have been linked to the heatwave, according to an estimate released Tuesday by the Carlos III Health Institute.
Since it began its records in 1975, AEMET has registered 77 heatwaves in Spain, with six of them going 4°C or more above the average – five of those since 2019.
