Spain records hottest summer on record, unprecedented 61 heatwave days

Spain experienced its hottest summer on record this year, with prolonged heatwaves and temperatures averaging 2.4C (4.3F) above the 1991-2020 average, the national weather agency said on Wednesday.

The average temperature from June through August reached 24.5C (76.1F), surpassing the previous record set in 2025 by 0.3C (0.5F).

The agency highlighted the extraordinary persistence of extreme heat, with three heat waves spanning 55 days across mainland Spain and the Balearic Islands during the summer.

A fourth episode in September brought the total to a record 61 days so far this year, far exceeding the previous high of 41 days in 2022.

Overall, the country experienced extreme heat for around two out of every three days this summer.

The summer's first heat wave, in late June, affected 42 provinces, making it the third most geographically extensive in the agency's records.

The next two lasted more than three weeks each. At 23 and 24 days, respectively, they were the third- and second-longest heat waves since at least 1975. Only a 26-day episode in July 2015 lasted longer.

The agency said summer-like conditions also extended beyond the June-August season, with temperatures typical of July recorded across large parts of the country in late May.

The September heat wave, provisionally dated from Sept. 2-7, affected 16 provinces despite occurring after the start of meteorological autumn.

It was only the fifth September heat wave in the agency's records, following episodes in 1987, 1988, 2006 and 2016.

All 10 of Spain's hottest summers since records began in 1961 have occurred this century, with seven of the eight warmest recorded since 2015.

On Thursday, Copernicus Climate Change Service announced August was the world's joint hottest month on record, with temperatures 1.65C (2.97F) higher than the estimated pre-industrial baseline.