Canary Islands heatwave ends as August proves exceptional

Tuesday is set to be the hottest day of the week and possibly of the whole month. This is because the Canary Islands are already expecting the current summer heatwave to come to an end. Whilst temperatures of up to 38 degrees were forecast in some areas for a short time, particularly in the south of Gran Canaria, the heat warnings are expected to ease from Wednesday onwards. By Thursday, it will already be noticeably cooler, according to Spain’s meteorologists at the AEMET weather service.

Accordingly, not only are falling temperatures expected on Thursday, but also an end to the current mild Calima spell. A thicker cloud cover moving in from the east may also bring light drizzle.

This brief spell of high pressure is in keeping with the weather of recent months: the Canary Islands have experienced periods of drought and particularly high temperatures. Combined with the current heatwave, August also brought something unusual:

Canary Islands: Rising temperatures and tropical nights

If there is no cooling off at night and temperatures do not fall below the 20-degree mark, the night is classified as a tropical night. If the thermometers even remain above the 25-degree mark, the Aemet refers to it as a night of scorching heat.

Due to the high temperatures in August, which peaked at 44.4 degrees in Gran Canaria, and the most recent spell of heat, with temperatures already exceeding 30 degrees at 4 am, there has been at least one tropical night in every season so far this year. Even the Aemet has never recorded such conditions before.

An analysis of the official data shows that August was around 1.1 degrees above the average for that month. The average temperature was 24.2 degrees. In addition, the month saw more rainfall than usual. Zero to five days of rain and, depending on the region, up to 1.5 litres of rain are considered normal. This August, however, an average of 2.4 litres of rain fell.

The conditions resulting from the combination of humid air and heat are considered extremely challenging, particularly for people who are sensitive to the weather, the elderly and those in poor health. The Canary Islands‘ daily monitoring system (MoMo) recorded 85 heat-related deaths by mid-August alone. Most of these were reported in the first two weeks of August.

The recent heatwave in September has not been analysed by either MoMo or Aemet. However, meteorologists are now expecting a respite from the heat for the time being.