Spain has just enjoyed its second-hottest October for 50 years

Statistics from Spanish meteorological agency AEMET have revealed that October this year was the second-hottest seen in Spain since 1965.

The average temperature for the month was a sweltering 18.5ºC, which is 2.6ºC higher than the average recorded between 1981 and 2010. The only October since 1965 that was hotter than this year’s was in 2014, when the average temperature was 18.7ºC…

These figures may not seem scorching, but one has to bear in mind that they account for night time temperatures and also the climates of Spain’s more temperate north. In the southern and Mediterranean regions, many days in October saw the temperature soar past 30ºC.

Perhaps more disconcertingly, AEMET’s data found that this year’s October was the driest so far this century, and the sixth-driest on record. The nation’s average rainfall was 26 litres per square metre, which is some way below the typical amount of rainfall for what is normally Spain’s wettest month.

The driest October ever was recorded in 1985 when just 14 litres per square metre of rain fell across the country. Interestingly, dry Octobers appear to arrive at 10-yearly intervals, with 1975 and 1995 also featuring among the five driest Octobers in Spain’s history.

The warmest parts of the country in October were found in Andalucía, Extremadura and the Canaries, with Seville and Cordoba recording a high of 35.7ºC, Tenerife reaching 35.9ºC and Fuerteventura topping the charts with a scorching record temperature of 38.7ºC.