The heat wave in Spain continues until Thursday with record temperatures.

Madrid, June 30 (EFE).- The heat wave will continue to hit Spain over the next few days, with maximum temperatures reaching 42-43 degrees Celsius in the south. This extreme event will persist at least until Thursday, although some Spanish regions will experience slight relief midweek.

The northern third of the Iberian Peninsula will experience a "significant drop" midweek, with maximum temperatures expected to drop sharply on Wednesday, which could fall by up to 10 degrees compared to the previous day. However, the rest of the country will remain "unprecedented," explained Rubén Del Campo, spokesperson for the State Meteorological Agency (Aemet).

Adding to this warm spell is the possibility of storms during the second half of the week, especially in mountainous areas in the north and east of the peninsula. Del Campo has predicted that they could be "locally strong."

The lows will not let up, and tropical nights—with temperatures above 20 degrees—will be repeated in many regions, especially in the center, south, and Mediterranean areas, where torrid nights are even expected, with lows above 25 degrees.

Del Campo explained that this first heat wave of the summer has already brought very high temperatures over the weekend, reaching 46 degrees Celsius in El Granado (Huelva) in the south of Spain on Saturday, a record high temperature in June. On Sunday, the municipality of Alconchel (Badajoz) in the center-west also reached 45 degrees Celsius.

At night, minimum temperatures hovered around 28 degrees on the 28th at Cape Creus (Girona) in the northeast and in Osuna (Seville) in the south, while in Lomo de Pedro Afonso (San Bartolomé de Tirajana), on the Spanish island of Gran Canaria, the minimum temperature reached 29.7 degrees yesterday.

Temperatures and health risks

These high temperatures pose a significant health risk in several areas of the northeast and southern Mediterranean coast, the Spanish Ministry of Health warned on its website.

Very hot weather is forecast for virtually the entire Iberian Peninsula and the Balearic Islands today, with extreme temperatures expected to remain unchanged at 40 degrees Celsius in the Ebro Valley and 42 degrees Celsius in the Guadiana and Guadalquivir valleys in the south.

This will be compounded by increased atmospheric instability, which will lead to the formation of storms, especially in mountainous areas and the central part of the peninsula. These storms could be locally strong, accompanied by hail and strong gusts of wind.

Tomorrow, Tuesday, the intense heat wave will continue, with very high minimum temperatures in large areas of the northeast, the Mediterranean coast, the Balearic Islands, and the central and southern peninsula, where temperatures will not drop below 22 to 24 degrees, and even 25 degrees in some places.

Wednesday will see a "notable" change in the northern third of the peninsula, except for Aragon and Catalonia, with temperatures dropping sharply—up to 10 degrees compared to the previous day—due to the arrival of northerly winds and increased cloud cover.

Bilbao (north) will drop from 33 degrees on Tuesday to just 24 degrees on Wednesday, however, in the rest of the country, the stifling heat will persist both day and night.

At this point, the Aemet spokesperson warned of storms expected to form starting at noon, especially in mountainous areas in the northern half of the country, around Castile and León, and surrounding areas. Both Tuesday and Wednesday could be locally strong and accompanied by hail.

Storms will persist on Thursday , perhaps more frequent than in previous days, especially in the north and east of the peninsula and with strong intensity, while the rain will continue for another day in the Cantabrian Sea.

Starting Friday , temperature uncertainty will increase further, and according to current forecast models, a more pronounced drop in temperature is likely in the north and east. EFE