Catalonia faces a new heatwave in the coming days, with forecasts of rising maximums until the middle of next week, when the thermal peak is expected in Barcelona and across the territory. The episode coincides with unusually high temperatures in the Iberian Peninsula, France, and the United Kingdom during this month of May.
The difference is that, for now, Catalonia has not broken any of its temperature records for May. While several municipalities in Asturias and Cantabria have already surpassed their historical highs and France has activated a yellow alert for intense heat in May for the first time since 2004, Catalan records remain below the values reached in 2022.
Seròs reached 36.1 ºC but remained below the 38.5 ºC of 2022
The highest value measured so far by the Meteocat automatic station network was 36.1 ºC recorded in Seròs on Friday. The figure remained below the 38.5 ºC registered in Anglès and Castellbisbal in May 2022, which continue to be the reference for this month.
In Barcelona too, thermometers have remained far from that episode. The Fabra Observatory recorded maximums of around 27 ºC, still below the 34.4 ºC reached in the May 2022 record.
Asturias, Cantabria, France, and the United Kingdom did set milestones this May
Outside of Catalonia, temperature behavior has indeed led to several unprecedented records for this time of year. Oviedo reached 35.5 ºC last Friday, according to AEMET, and surpassed its previous May record by more than one degree.
Gijón and Torrelavega exceeded 36 ºC and recorded their highest value in a May. In parallel, Météo France activated a yellow alert for intense heat in northwestern France, a measure it had not applied in May since 2004 and which will remain in effect at least until Monday.
In the United Kingdom, the Met Office confirmed this Saturday the first temperature above 30 ºC in May in almost 15 years, since May 25, 2012.
Barcelona and the rest of Catalonia expect the thermal peak mid-week
Meteorological models indicate that the heat has not yet peaked in Catalonia. The forecast is that temperatures will remain stable or even increase in the coming days, with the period of greatest intensity expected for the middle of next week.
That rise will place Barcelona and the rest of Catalonia in the warmest stretch of the episode, although for now the observed records remain below the historical maximums for May measured in 2022, with 34.4 ºC at the Fabra Observatory and 38.5 ºC in Anglès and Castellbisbal.