Record sea temperature in June and July: 2ºC above historical average

The average sea surface temperature in Catalonia during this summer reached 25.8ºC, the second highest since 1982, according to data by the Catalan research institute on Sea management (ICATMAR) and analyzed by the Catalan News Agency (ACN).

The temperature exceeded by 2ºC the average historical temperature for June, July, and August between 1982 and 2022, and it is close to the record of 25.85ºC registered in 2022.

Although the water in August was slightly colder than in the last three years, June and July registered all-time highs above the average of the last 40 years, 24.1ºC and 26.73ºC, respectively.

The historical average of the sea surface temperature stands at 23.7ºC.

During the 1980s and 1990s, it was pretty common to have a water temperature between 22.5ºC and 23.5ºC, while in the last decade, the average has exceeded 24ºC and 25ºC.

Some of the reasons behind this record are that June and July have been among the warmest so far. In fact, June registered all-time high temperatures across many sites in Catalonia.

Due to the warm atmospheric temperature, the seawater was around 3ºC higher than the historic average, at 21.2ºC. In June, thermometers reached 27.6ºC in Barcelona, 28.8ºC in Tarragona, and 22.5ºC in l'Estartit.

Meanwhile, the seawater in August was a bit colder, as the average was 26.57ºC, while in 2024, 2023, and 2022, the average exceeded 27ºC.