A record-breaking August heatwave has smashed previous temperature highs.
According to Spain’s meteorological agency, AEMET, readings have been showing 4.6°C above the norm.
Looking at data so far, it seems almost certain that this summer will rank among the two hottest on record. It is nearly tied with 2022, which still holds the title, and both are far warmer than the infamous summer of 2003.
This year has seen far more warm spells than cold ones. March was chilly, May was about average, but every other month has been warm to blisteringly hot.
From January to August, 2025 is already the second warmest year on record, just behind 2024. The past four years have all been hot contenders, leaving earlier years looking comparatively chilly.
The summer itself has been a rollercoaster: a long spell of above-average heat in June and early July, a brief cooler patch at the end of July, and then an August heatwave that smashed records.
The heatwave of 2025
This August heatwave is officially the hottest ever recorded in Spain. It beat the previous record from July 2022, reaching 4.6°C above average. The heat lasted 16 days, making the first 20 days of August the warmest stretch since at least 1961. The ten days from 8 to 17 August were the hottest ever recorded in the country, going back to at least 1950.
To put it in perspective, five of the 20 hottest periods on record come from this heatwave, and 15 have occurred since 2022. August 2025 looks set to be among the four warmest ever, keeping up the recent trend, four of the five hottest Augusts have been in the past four years.
After the heatwave ended on 18 August, Spain has enjoyed a cooler spell, but temperatures are expected to rise again before the month is out, with the odd dip along the way.
