The heat wave reaches its peak this Saturday and from tomorrow there will be a slight drop in temperatures. Throughout today, temperatures of up to 44 degrees are expected on the coast and inland areas south of Valencia. For this reason, AEMET has activated the extreme risk warning in a large part of the Region of Murcia, Alicante and Valencia.
But the worst will not happen during the day. The night will be “hellish”, with temperatures not dropping below 34 degrees until well into the early hours of the morning in some areas. According to eltiempo.es, “extreme high temperatures will not be the only phenomenon with a potential impact on health. Extremely high temperatures are expected this coming night that will significantly interfere with nighttime rest. The nighttime heat particularly affects children, the elderly, people with pre-existing conditions and those with low incomes. Cities accentuate the situation, due to the heat island effect.”
According to the forecast of Meteored, temperatures At midnight, temperatures will be around 30 to 34 degrees in parts of Almería, the Region of Murcia, Alicante and in the south of Valencia. Even in the early hours of the morning, after three in the morning, temperatures could exceed 30 degrees in cities such as Torrevieja, Alicante, Calpe, Denia and Gandia.
How is it possible that the minimum temperatures are as high as the maximum temperatures in other places in Spain if the sun does not warm up at night? This phenomenon occurs due to the heat accumulated during the day and the existence of a westerly wind. Although it is true that the minimum temperatures will drop to 24-26 degrees, it will be very difficult to sleep without the help of ventilation or air conditioning equipment.
This unusual episode of such high night-time temperatures is due to the so-called “foehn effect”, which occurs when “a wind hits a mountain range perpendicularly. The air, as it ascends the mountain, dries out and overheats because, as it goes down the opposite slope, it is subjected to an increase in pressure. The result is a hot, gusty wind that keeps temperatures at high values,” explains Meteored.
A slight respite before a new sharp rise in temperatures
On Sunday there will be a slight change in the trend of the last few days due to the arrival of a trough, accompanied by a mass of cooler air from the north of the peninsula. This will cause a significant drop in maximum temperatures in a large part of the southeast – between 5 and 6 degrees – with the inland areas and the coast of Valencia, Alicante and the Region of Murcia being particularly noticeable. In these areas, The drop could lower minimum temperatures by between 6 and 12 degrees. compared to those recorded on Saturday.
Next week, temperatures will rise again, although on Monday they will continue to fall in the southeast, with maximum values of 34 to 36 degrees inland and 28-30 in coastal areas. But this will be temporary because meteorological models indicate that there will be a new episode of very high temperatures, the peak of which could occur on Wednesday, the eve of the Santiago festival.