Why is it so hot this summer?

It’s not a high-pressure system “stationary” on the map

The simplistic image—a high-pressure system fixed over Spain for two months—does not match what has been observed. What repeats itself is something else: an upper-level ridge (around 5,500 meters, the 500 hPa level) that reforms over and over again. Beneath that ridge, the air descends, is compressed, and warms: clear skies, little organized rainfall, and plenty of hours of sunshine. Meanwhile, Atlantic storms circulate further north , often grazing the British Isles or Scandinavia rather than bringing deep cooling to the Peninsula.

In several instances, an isolated low-pressure system also appears to the west (a DANA or cut-off). Here it’s worth clearing up a misconception: a DANA doesn’t always “bring cool air.” If it remains west of Portugal, its eastern flank can pump warm air from North Africa for days, while the ridge over Spain slows its advance. When it finally moves, there may indeed be thunderstorms and brief relief. The problem this summer is the repeated occurrence : not a single stationary system, but successive systems with the same geometry.

And what about the “real” heat—not just the heat from the asphalt? Radiosonde measurements confirm it. In Santander, temperatures of 26.7 °C were recorded at an altitude of about 1,500 meters (850 hPa) during the June heatwave. That indicates a deep layer of warm air, not just overheated city centers. That’s why the heat also hit the Cantabrian coast hard: AEMET recorded 42.9 °C in Lleida on the 22nd and 42.7 °C at Bilbao Airport on the 24th.

Dry ground and a very warm Mediterranean Sea amplify the effect—higher daytime highs, nights that don’t cool down along the coast and on the islands—but they do not create the upper-level block. They act as the loudspeaker, not both the loudspeaker and the microphone at the same time. Between June 6 and July 24, there were approximately 49 consecutive days with a national average temperature above normal: these are not 49 official “heat wave” days (that label has a strict definition set by AEMET), but it is indeed a period of . The June–July average is 0.7 °C above 2022 and 2025, and +2.9 °C above the 1991–2020 average.

How it feels in a historic town center

A stone town isn’t automatically cool. The thick walls help inside; outside, stone plazas, unshaded streets, and sun-exposed facades accumulate heat during the day and release it at night. In July, the records for high lows (182 compared to 141 for highs, according to the provisional tally of analyzed stations) matter as much as—or more than—the thermometer reading at 4:00 p.m.: it is the nights that offer no respite to residents, guests, and workers.

Added to this are operational challenges. Many municipalities depend on one or two roads , often flanked by dry vegetation: a fire, a road closure, or a traffic restriction simultaneously jeopardizes both visitor access and evacuation. Mid-afternoon events—markets, guided tours, concerts—see lower attendance or increased risk. And part of the rural tourism offering takes place in historic buildings where installing conventional air conditioning is no simple matter: one must combine shade, nighttime ventilation, appropriate insulation, and common sense.

In the countryside, the heat accelerates the ripening of grain crops and shortens the grain-filling period; cooperatives estimated the harvest at around 18.6 million metric tons, well below the record harvest of 2025. As of August 4 (MITECO), reservoirs stood at 39,016 hm³ · 69.6%, with the Segura at 55.3%, the Júcar at 58.5% and the Ebro at 64.9%: the national average does not tell the same story across all basins. Regarding wildfires, the figures are not interchangeable: MITECO (Aug. 1) reported ~180,000 ha and 38 major fires; EFFIS/Copernicus (July 29) reported 219,665 ha. The source and date must always be cited.

What about tourism? Based on June’s data, it is not yet possible to confirm a general slump due to the heat. Rural tourism saw only a slight decline; the drop was concentrated more in international demand and other types of tourism. The most accurate interpretation is not that “people are stopping coming,” but rather that they are changing the timing, itinerary, and type of visit .

We need to change the way we explore the town

If the heat wave drags on, the answer isn’t just a generic message of “caution.” It’s about reorganizing the day—for visitors, businesses, guides, and city halls— just as is done anywhere where the sun reigns supreme.

For travelers: bring water, choose parking spots wisely (avoid the edges of dry vegetation on high-risk days), check local advisories, and don’t assume that “the north is always cool”—this June proved otherwise. For those in charge: reschedule what you can, keep emergency routes clear in high-risk areas, and communicate town by town, hour by hour. A national headline about “extreme heat in Spain” can lead to canceled reservations where the situation was manageable; downplaying a local incident, on the other hand, erodes trust.

That is why, in the report, we propose a common Summer Heat Protocol with three levels—routine operations, heightened precautions, and restrictions—activated based on local criteria and official sources, not on a single temperature threshold for the entire country. 38 °C does not mean the same thing with high humidity, a tropical night, wind, or a single access road through the forest.

A storm does not close the chapter

This text is a mid-summer report. The meteorological summer ends on August 31; part of July remains provisional. AEMET’s seasonal forecast points to an August–October quarter with a high probability of remaining in the warm tertile, while at the same time there may be precipitation concentrated over just a few days. This is not contradictory: underlying heat and intense storms can coexist.

What should be clear, however, is that an isolated storm does not break a weather pattern. For the weather pattern to truly change, the storm corridor must return to Iberian latitudes, Atlantic air must penetrate deeply (not just at the surface), and the soil must regain moisture. In the meantime, lightning, hail, runoff over dry ground, and fires associated with electrical activity remain on the list of risks. Local information is better than slogans.

To learn more

If you want the full analysis—hierarchy of mechanisms, tables, territorial matrix of the network, and detailed protocol—it’s in the PDF. Here we’ve summarized the essentials: what’s happening in the atmosphere, how it’s felt in rural areas, and how to adapt habits without alarmism or slogans.