Record-hot summer: Catalonia records 20 days above 40°C

This summer was the hottest ever recorded in Catalonia, with temperatures more than 3°C above the 1991-2020 average across 80% of the territory, according to the Catalan Meteorological Service (Meteocat).

Meteocat stations recorded 20 days with temperatures above 40°C between June and August, according to a Catalan News Agency (ACN) analysis, surpassing the previous record of 16 days set last year.

Central Barcelona also experienced a record 59 torrid nights, when temperatures remained above 25°C, based on readings from the Can Bruixa station.

The summer also produced Catalonia's second-highest temperature since records began: 44.1°C in Vinebre, Ribera d'Ebre county, southern Catalonia on July 8. 

That same night, the temperature in Portbou, on the Costa Brava, did not fall below 32.5°C, setting a new record for the highest minimum temperature ever recorded in Catalonia.

Temperatures above 40°C 

Lleida recorded temperatures above 40°C on 15 days this summer, a new record and almost twice its previous high of eight, set in 2022.

Vinebre and Alcarràs each topped 40°C on 14 days.

Other municipalities in western Catalonia, including Torres de Segre, Seròs, Sant Romà d'Abella and Vilanova de Segrià, exceeded 40°C on 10 days.

Overall, 41% of Meteocat weather stations topped 40°C at least once, a level previously reached only in 2019 and 2023.

Hottest day: July 8

The 44.1°C recorded in Vinebre on July 8 was accompanied by temperatures above 42°C in other parts of the Terres de l'Ebre, Priorat and Alt Empordà.

Barcelona also experienced exceptional heat, with the Fabra Observatory recording 40.7°C, its highest temperature in more than 100 years of records.

Record number of hot nights

The exceptional heat also persisted through the nights, particularly in Barcelona, where minimum temperatures broke records.

Can Bruixa station in the Les Corts district recorded 59 torrid nights, while the Raval station recorded 54, up from a previous maximum of 36.

Badalona recorded 31 torrid nights, twice the previous record.

On July 8, Portbou in Alt Empordà experienced Catalonia's highest minimum temperature on record: the temperature remaining above 32.5°C during the early hours. It fell to 31.9°C shortly before midnight.

Catalonia has now recorded 20 consecutive summers with nights above 25°C. In 2026, one in five weather stations recorded at least one such night, particularly along the coast.

Around 85% of stations recorded at least one tropical night, when temperatures remain above 20°C.

Since June 12, temperatures in the Catalan capital have not fallen below 20°C.

Hottest summer on record

According to Meteocat, temperatures during the June-August meteorological summer were more than 3°C above the 1991-2020 reference average across almost all of Catalonia.

In parts of the western Pyrenees, the Vic plain and other inland areas, the anomaly exceeded 4°C.

"Maximum daytime temperatures contributed most to the summer's exceptionally hot character, although minimum temperatures at night also remained persistently high," Meteocat said.

"The temperature record was not the result of exceptional conditions in a particular area, but occurred across the territory as a whole," they added.

Rainfall was low or very low across much of Catalonia, except in Camp de Tarragona, where intense rainfall in August pushed local totals above the summer climate average.

Two episodes of intense rain in August caused some local rainfall totals to exceed 200% of the seasonal average.

At stations in El Vendrell and Torredembarra, it was the wettest summer in 25 and 26 years of records respectively, due to torrential downpours on August 22 and 24.