Madrid, Spain

Spain has logged its hottest spring ever in the last 60 years of recordkeeping, as average temperatures remained generally two degree Celsius above the usual, reported the national weather agency on Wednesday.  

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This year, the country also experienced its second driest-ever spring on record, leaving behind the one it faced in 1995, stated the AEMET agency as the prolonged drought hit the country's key agricultural sector.

In 2022, Spain had its hottest year on record and now it is expected to become one of the worst-hit countries of the European Union in terms of climate change.

According to AEMET, the average temperature was "14.2 degree Celsius (57.5 degrees Fahrenheit), which was 1.8 degree Celsius hotter" than normal.

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That is "extremely hot, exceeding 1997 -- the hottest spring up to now -- by 0.3 degree Celsius," it added.

"The spring of 2023 was the hottest spring on record in Spain," AEMET stated while speaking about the three-month period that began in March. 

The country in late April had battled a major heatwave as local temperatures shot up to 20 degree Celsius above average, increasing the drought.

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In the month of May, temperatures remained slightly higher than average and then dropped below the average in the month's second half as it received heavy rainfall that helped in cooling down the weather but couldn't alleviate the drought. 

"Until almost mid-May, there was no rain," stated AEMET spokesman Ruben del Campo. 

"With the rains in the second half of May, the situation has eased a little."

However, the drought, "which is measured over the longer term, has not been resolved," he added. 

"How long it would continue would depend on the levels of rainfall later in the year," he stated. 

"In this hydrological year so far, we've seen a 20 per cent shortage in rainfall so for that to be resolved, it would need to rain 20 per cent more (than usual) in autumn," Campo further added. 

Hot and hotter 

In the last few years, Spain has been facing more heatwaves and rainfall has been increasingly scarce and irregular.

AEMET forecasters last year recorded "35 days of record-breaking heat when temperatures were above the seasonal average", del Campo stated. 

"That's one record every 10 days," he added. 

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Last month, AEMET stated that Spain had recorded its driest start of the year since it began making such records in 1961, as the country received less than half the normal amount of rain in the first four months of 2023.

As per experts, some parts of Spain are experiencing their driest phase in 1,000 years, as the ongoing drought has forced some farmers not to sow crops this year.

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