Heat warning issued from Sunday, with maximums of up to 40°C inland

The Meteorological Service of Catalonia (Meteocat) has issued the first heat warning of the year for Sunday.

Although the heat will be felt across the territory this weekend, inland areas will be especially hot, especially around the Lleida region where temperatures are expected to reach 40°C.

This situation could last at least until Tuesday, and is expected to peak on Monday.

In addition, the nights will also be hot, with minimums that will not fall below 20°C in many parts, and may even exceed 25°C in some points on the coast and pre-coastal areas.

Meteocat has warned that this situation will be aggravated by the arrival of suspended dust, which could favor tropical and torrid nights.

New criteria for determining a heat warning

Meteocat has highlighted that the warning for Sunday is the first issued line line with new heat warning criteria.

Since this June, in agreement with the Departments of Health, Labor, and Interior, the thresholds used by Meteocat to issue warnings of severe heat danger have been updated with the aim of better adapting them to the climate evolution in Catalonia.

The main novelty is that the threshold temperature for each point in the country will be calculated based on the last 15 years of meteorological data, instead of the 10 used until now.

Furthermore, in those points in Catalonia such as Vinebre, Temps, or Ascó, where the calculated threshold could be very high due to the high temperature that occurs there in summer, a threshold of 40°C is established, despite the fact that the usual calculations could establish higher temperatures.

Intense heat warnings are based on specific thresholds for each point in the country, calculated from the maximum temperatures observed in recent years. These warnings are not based on a fixed temperature throughout Catalonia, but on what is unusual in each area.

To determine this, Meteocat compares the temperature forecast during a heat wave with the temperatures recorded during recent summers in that same place.

A warning is issued if the forecast is to place the period among the 2% hottest days observed over the years.

In practice, this means that warnings are issued on a few summer days.