Catalonia records hottest July since records began in 1950

July 2026 was Catalonia's hottest July and one of its driest since records began in 1950, according to a monthly report from the Catalan Meteorological Service (Meteocat).

"The persistence of three heat episodes during the month, with very few days of respite between them, together with an almost general lack of rainfall, has led to numerous exceptional records across the Network of Automatic Meteorological Stations (XEMA)," Meteocat said in a statement.

The summer has also brought 40°C temperatures, prolonged dry spells, and records for "torrid" nights, when temperatures do not fall below 25°C.

Among the most notable figures, by the end of July the Barcelona-Can Bruixa station had already matched the annual record of 36 torrid nights set over the course of last summer.

"Exceptional" temperatures

July was "exceptional" from a climate perspective, according to Meteocat. Data from their network of automatic weather stations showed that temperatures were well above normal across Catalonia, particularly in higher-lying areas.

At 171 of XEMA's 184 stations equipped with thermometers, temperatures were at least 3°C above the 1991-2020 reference average. That threshold is used to classify a month as very hot. The largest anomalies exceeded 5°C in parts of Berguedà, Osona, Ripollès and Val d'Aran.

Among the stations with century-long records, the Fabra Observatory in Barcelona recorded its hottest July in 112 years of data, with temperatures more than 4°C above average.

The Ebre Observatory also recorded its highest average July temperature since its records began in 1905.

Beyond the highest temperatures recorded in some parts of Catalonia, the most striking feature of July was the persistence of the heat, both during the day and overnight.

At Barcelona-Can Bruixa, for example, 26 torrid nights were recorded, comfortably surpassing the previous July record of 21, set in 2006.

Since the start of summer, the station has already matched the 36 torrid nights recorded over the whole of summer 2025.

Extreme temperatures were also unusually frequent across June and July. By July 31, the number of days on which at least one XEMA station had recorded a maximum temperature of 40°C or higher was already close to the annual record of 16, set in 2025.

In Lleida, for example, temperatures had reached 40°C or higher on 11 days by the end of July, compared with eight days in the whole of 2025.

Dry spells

Rainfall was also exceptionally scarce, Meteocat said. Nearly half of XEMA's stations recorded less than 1mm of rain throughout July, while almost half of the stations with more than 20 years of records registered their driest July on record.

The rainfall deficit was particularly pronounced in the Pyrenees and Pre-Pyrenees, where summer is normally the wettest season because of afternoon thunderstorms. July's lack of storm activity left rainfall well below normal.

Dry spells that began as early as mid-May in some areas have reached new records at several XEMA stations. At Algerri, in Noguera, the dry spell had reached 88 consecutive days without at least 1mm of rainfall by July 31, the longest recorded so far.