Brits travelling to Spain this week will come face to face with a blistering heatwave that prompted the southern European country’s State Meteorological Agency (Aemet) to issue a warning.
The agency sounded the alarm for temperatures expected to exceed 40C in parts of the country, including Andalucia and the Balearic Islands.
These regions boast some of Spain’s most popular holiday hotspots among Brits, with names such as Majorca, Ibiza and Marbella currently in the thick of their high season.
A new blast of hot air – the fourth official heatwave of the summer – will run between Friday and Sunday.
Aemet reports that the current high temperatures are anticipated to “continue to rise progressively in the coming days”.
The highest temperatures are anticipated this Saturday, with some regions potentially reaching up to 42°C.
Overnight temperatures might remain above 25°C in some areas of the country, which might spell trouble for those seeking a good night’s sleep.
An Aemet spokesperson stated: “It is likely that on Friday temperatures will exceed 39C in the middle Ebro, Huesca, Lleida, the Guadalquivir valley, Granada, in central Spain and the Duero valley. In the Tagus and Guadiana valleys it will reach 40C.”
These regions could see an additional increase of a few degrees on Saturday, as the entire country is set to experience extreme heat.
“It is likely that 34C will be exceeded in western Galicia while reaching 36C in the rest of the northern plateau, the interior of Catalunya, the north of the Valencian Community and the south of the Balearic Islands,” the spokesperson continued.
For Sunday, meteorologists predict a cooler Atlantic air mass will begin to enter the western third of the Iberian Peninsula, though temperatures are expected to remain unchanged.
Despite this, forecasters have not ruled out the possibility of the heatwave warning remaining in effect until Monday.
The spokesperson added: “On Sunday August 11, a cooler Atlantic air mass is likely to start entering the western third of the peninsula.
“However, temperatures will remain mostly unchanged or may even rise in much of the territory, especially in the Cantabrian region, where the southern wind could lead to significant temperature increases.”