Since recording began
Spain experiences 2022 warmest year
In 2022, Spain experienced the warmest year on record. With almost 15.5 degrees in 2022, the average temperature exceeded the 15-degree mark for the first time since records began in 1916, according to the Spanish weather service Aemet.
New Year’s swim at San Sebastian Beach in Barcelona: In 2022, Spain experienced the warmest year since weather records began. At almost 15.5 degrees in 2022, the average temperature exceeded the 15-degree mark for the first time since records began in 1916. (Archive)
In Spain there were repeated heat waves from May to October, with temperatures rising to over 40 degrees in large parts of the country. With the exception of March and April, the months of 2022 were “warmer than normal, particularly May, July and October,” Aemet said in December.
According to the Spanish weather service, last year was also one of the driest. Only in 2005 and 2017 was there less precipitation. Barcelona and much of Spain’s northeastern region of Catalonia have imposed water restrictions due to the lack of rain.
The exceptionally dry and hot year also favored forest fires. According to the European Forest Fire Information System (Effis), more than 300,000 hectares of land in Spain were devastated – more than in more than two decades.
According to an estimate by a public health institute, the high temperatures last summer also caused the deaths of around 4,750 people. The estimate is based on the number of increased deaths recorded during this period.
And the new year also began in Spain with unusually high temperatures. At the airport in the city of Bilbao in northern Spain, 25.1 degrees were measured on New Year’s Day – roughly the average temperature for the city in July. It was the city’s highest temperature ever recorded in January.
(SDA)