Summer sea temperatures breaks records, 2.3ºC above average

Summer 2026 has been the warmest since official records began, according to Meteocat.

Following the same trend, the surface temperature of sea water on the Catalan coasts has also broken all records, reaching an average of 26.1°C.

This temperature is more than two degrees above that of the 1982-2022 period.

In fact, both July and August recorded the highest average monthly temperature ever recorded, with 27°C and 28.4°C on the surface, respectively.

June didn't break the record, but not by much, as this year saw the second hottest water surface temperature for the month, with an average of 23.7°C. Last year is the only time June water surface temperatures have been hotter, at 24.1°C.

These data come from the Catalan Institute for Research on Sea Governance (ICATMAR) which stretch back to since 1982, provided to the Catalan News Agency.

The data also show unprecedented maximum monthly temperatures in the three months of summer.

According to ICATMAR's maximum and average temperature records based on data from the Copernicus satellite, the Catalan coastline has warmed this summer well above the climate average, almost in line with what has happened with the ambient temperature.

While Meteocat stations recorded a temperature anomaly of more than 3 degrees in much of the territory this summer, at sea the increase with respect to the forty-year average (1982-2022, of 23.8°C) has been 2.3 degrees, an anomaly never seen before.

Average temperatures during June-August was 26.1°C. Never, at least since 1982, had the average temperature exceeded 26°C, not even during the torrid summer of 2022, which held the absolute record so far with 25.9°C.

Record highs

Each month also saw new high temperatures for the sea surface.

The 27.3°C recorded in June was unprecedented for any month of June, likewise the 28.4°C in July and the 29.5°C in August.

The various State Ports buoys in the Catalonia area also saw extraordinary records this summer. Of particular note are the more than 30°C reached both off the Barcelona coast and near the Ebre Delta in August.

The Begur and Tarragona buoys also exceeded 29°C degrees that same month.

As for average temperatures, all four buoys set new records. The highest was the Ebre coast on with 26.9°C throughout the summer, followed by 26.8°C in Tarragona, 26.2°C in Barcelona, ​​and 24.1°C in Begur.