- Second only to 2022, it was extremely warm. There were two cold snaps, seven heat waves and two episodes of very high temperatures outside the summer. Sea water also broke temperature records
- Heat waves in Spain are becoming three days longer per decade; they are affecting larger and larger areas (about three more provinces every ten years), and they are also more intense.
- It was the sixth driest since 1961. Low rainfall, which was below normal in most parts of the country, resulted in a long-lasting drought.
The State Meteorological Agency (AEMET), under the Ministry for Ecological Transition and Demographic Challenge (MITECO), has made public this Thursday the report on the state of the climate of Spain 2023. This is the fifth edition of a report that analyzes in detail the most important aspects of the weather and climate throughout the year, as well as the atmospheric patterns that originated the different weather conditions in our country.
The year 2023 was an extremely warm year: it was the second warmest year in the historical series (starting in 1961), only surpassed by 2022. In addition, it was also very dry: the sixth with the least rainfall of the entire series and the fourth of the 21st century.
In terms of temperatures, it reached an average value of 15.2 ºC for Spain as a whole. This figure is 1.2 ºC higher than the average for the 1991-2020 reference period. The average temperature in Spain has risen 1.5 ºC since 1961 and the ten warmest years in the series have been recorded in the current century.
In 2023 there were two cold snaps. One of these, which began on February 28, was the third latest in the historical series. However, high temperature episodes were clearly predominant. There were seven heat waves (four in the Peninsula and the Balearic Islands and three in the Canary Islands) and two episodes of high temperatures, very anomalous due to the records reached, in April and October. On August 12, the weather station in Guía de Isora, Tenerife, did not drop below 37.4 ºC (37.4ºF). This is the highest minimum temperature in Spain since data has been available.
In addition, 44 record warm days were recorded during the year. Five records would have been expected in a climate unaltered by greenhouse gas emissions. Therefore, this figure was multiplied by a factor of nine. In contrast, there were no record cold days. In the last decade, for every record cold day there have been 28 record warm days.
According to the report, heat waves in Spain are becoming longer by three days per decade, affect larger and larger areas (about three more provinces every ten years) and are also more intense: their temperature is approximately 2.7 ºC higher per decade.
The waters of the sea around Spain broke records in 2023: for the first time since at least 1940, their average annual temperature exceeded 20 ºC. All coastal areas, both near the coast and offshore, recorded very high temperatures for most of the year, although there was a sharp and prolonged drop in autumn in areas of the Mediterranean.
RAINFALL
In terms of precipitation, 531 l/m² accumulated, which is 84% of the normal average for the 1991-2020 reference period. In most of the country, rainfall was below normal, except in the northern and northwestern basin. In the eastern and southern Pyrenees basins, rainfall reached only 55% and 42%, respectively, of their normal values.
The spring was the second driest in the historical series. The meteorological drought that had begun in 2022 continued and, since March, evolved into a long-term drought, which persisted for the rest of the year. This type of drought has a socioeconomic character and can compromise the supply of the population.
Throughout the year there were episodes of heavy rains, such as the one that affected some neighborhoods of the city of Zaragoza in July, or the situation associated with a drought that, at the beginning of September, affected the Mediterranean area and the center of the Peninsula. The snowfall recorded between the end of February and the beginning of March in Mallorca, as a consequence of the storm Juliette, was also very remarkable: more than 2 meters of snow accumulated on the summits of this island.
2023 recorded more thunderstorm days than usual, but with less lightning, which is explained by the fact that most of them occurred in spring. Typically, autumn storms generate more discharges and tend to be of greater intensity. Also consistent with a very dry year, this was the fourth year with the highest number of sunshine hours since 1983.
High temperatures and water stress at the end of the summer caused irregularities in the biological cycles of living beings. Thus, second flushes and blooms were observed in fruit trees in the middle of autumn, simultaneously with fruit ripening, which is very unusual.
