MADRID: October morning temperatures topping 30 degrees Celsius (86 Fahrenheit) in Spain may have brought cheer to the tourists, but they are provoking concern among environmentalists.
The mercury has been rising well above the norm across vast swathes of Europe, from Spain to as far north as Sweden.
After a summer marked by repeated heatwaves across much of the continent, Europe is experiencing exceptional temperatures even as it heads into the start of autumn – a sign of accelerating climate change.
“The month has not yet ended but we can already say practically without fear of contradiction that it will be the hottest (in Spain) since 1961,” when records began to be collated, said Ruben del Campo of Spain’s meteorological service Aemet.
If extrapolated data from historical reconstructions is taken into account, he added, this past month will have been Spain’s warmest October for fully a century.
“One, two days above 30 degrees is normal” for Spain, said del Campo. “But so many days, no. These are summer temperatures, whereas we are already heading into autumn.”
On Friday (Oct 28) morning, the northern resort of San Sebastian saw the temperature hit 30.3 degrees Celsius at 8.30 am (6.30am GMT, 2.30pm Singapore time) – well above the seasonal average.
With forest fires declared in recent days in the Basque region, of which San Sebastian is a part, authorities have banned barbecues and fireworks to keep risks to a minimum.
The unseasonal warm spell has brought a new word into the Spanish lexicon – “verono” – an amalgam of verano (summer) and otono (autumn).
And it has left del Campo highlighting a “notable acceleration” in climate change over the past decade, exposing Spain to increasing creeping desertification.
According to the Climate Central think tank, the Spanish cities of Madrid, Barcelona, Valencia and Zaragoza are all in the top 10 European cities most affected by global warming on the evidence of the past 12 months.
SIZZLING SPAIN TO SWEDEN
Neighbouring France has, like Spain, seen a hotter than normal October. But well to the north, Sweden has been sizzling too – managing to see a record 19.5 degrees Celsius in the southern city of Kristianstad on Friday.
“This is the highest temperature ever recorded in Sweden this late in the year,” Erik Hojgard-Olsen, meteorologist at the Swedish Meteorological and Hydrological Institute (SMHI), told AFP.
In south-western France, which also suffered widespread forest fire damage in the summer during repeated heatwaves, Meteo France said Friday temperatures closed in on 30 degrees Celsius.
In Belgium, the capital Brussels saw a maximum forecast of 24 degrees Celsius – fully 10 degrees Celsius higher than the norm for late October.
