A combination of warmer-than-normal water in the eastern Atlantic/western Mediterranean, strong upper level ridge of high pressure and exceptionally high levels of Saharan dust has supported the hottest surface temperatures recorded on the continent of Europe for May.

Here’s an article written by the Capital Weather Gang and Met Office on the extreme May heat…

Scorching Spain heat breaks all-time May records for Europe

An impressively intense heat wave in Spain this week has managed to topple all-time May records for the county as well as all of Europe.

Jeff Masters, director of meteorology at Weather Underground, writes that record high May temperatures for the entire continent of Europe have fallen in Spain today:

At least four stations in the Valencian Community of eastern Spain hit temperatures today in excess of the previous European May heat record set just eight days ago–a 41.9°C (107.4°F) reading at Catenanuova, Sicily (Italy) on May 6. Today’s European record-breaking May temperatures in Spain included:

Carcaixent: 42.9°C (109.2°F)
Xativa: 42.7°C (108.9°F)
Algemesi: 42.6°C (108.7°F)
Valencia: 42.3°C (108.1°F)

Many stations in Spain’s Valencian community went above their June records, and were near their all-time records for any month. The record set at Valencia today was 6.3°C (11.3°F) above the previous highest May temperature, and was 4.1°C (7.4°F) higher than the record for June!

Though the World Meteorological Organization does not officially track weather records for entire continents, some reputable weather historians and climatologists have maintained thorough databases of global weather records. One of these historians is Maximiliano Herrera, a colleague of Masters, who provided the data for the records above.

The heat records are the culmination of a series of scorching days. Some cities in Spain reached temperatures that were close to their all-time record highs for any month.

On Wednesday, Lanzarote Airport on the Canary Islands hit an incredible 108.7 degrees, which set a new May record for all of Spain by more than four degrees, says the U.K. Met Office. “The previous May record in Spain was 40.1C [104.2 degrees Fahrenheit] at Cordoba on the mainland, and Cordoba itself recorded a new May station record on Wednesday with 41.2C [106.2 degrees Fahrenheit].”

The Lanzarote Airport temperature also blew away the station’s old record high for the month of May by 10.8 degrees, and was shy of the all-time record high for any month by just half a degree.

Madrid, Seville, Granada and Cordoba all set record highs for the month of May on Wednesday.

A plume of warm, subtropical air has been pushing northeast this week, pumping up the mercury on the Mediterranean side of the Iberian Peninsula with the aid of a process called “adiabatic compression.” Basically, when air is compressed — like when it is forced into a smaller space, or when it moves into an area of higher pressure (like as it flows down a mountainside) — it heats up. So, the already-toasty air is getting some adiabatic enhancement that led to off the charts May temperatures.

“Further records could be broken today in parts of Andalucía, Mercia and Valenciana as air continues to feed in from North Africa,” says the U.K. Met Office in a blog post about the heat. “However, a cold front is pushing gradually southeastwards across Spain, bringing cooler air across much of the country by the end of the week.”

Record May temperatures for Spain

Update: On Thursday, records were broken once again across southeast Spain. Valencia equalled Lanzarote Airport’s 42.6C from the previous day. Other stations in the Valenciana region exceeded this value, with Xativa and Carcaixent reaching 42.7C and 42.9C respectively; however these are as yet unconfirmed so are not official. Either way, not only is this 42.6C a new Spanish record for May, but a European-wide May record.  

Meanwhile, the heat is spreading to other parts of Europe, with extreme warmth expected today along the north coast of Sicily and parts of mainland southern Italy.

A new record maximum temperature for Spain was set yesterday, with many local records also broken, and the heat continues today in the southeast.

The new record of 42.6C was recorded at Lanzarote Airport in the Canary Islands, beating the previous May record for Spain by a relatively large 2.5 degrees. It also beats the Lanzarote station’s own previous highest May temperature by a whopping 6 degrees.

The previous May record in Spain was 40.1C at Cordoba on the mainland, and Cordoba itself recorded a new May station record on Wednesday with 41.2C.

Further records could be broken today in parts of Andalucía, Mercia and Valenciana as air continues to feed in from North Africa. However, a cold front is pushing gradually southeastwards across Spain, bringing cooler air across much of the country by the end of the week.

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