Hot, dry summer to be followed by above average autumn temperatures in Spain

Summer in Spain this year recorded hotter than average temperatures with levels of rainfall well below average, the Spanish Meteorological Agency (AEMET) informed on Wednesday.

In its quarterly report, AEMET described the summer as "very hot" with an average temperature of 24.2 degrees centigrade -- 1.2 degrees centigrade above the norm -- while the level of rainfall was 40 percent lower than that of an average Spanish summer.

Temperatures in June were 0.7 percent above average and July and August temperatures were 1.5 and 1.3 degrees higher than usual respectively.

The start of September saw a period of abnormally high weather with record highs of 36 degrees centigrade measured at AEMET's observatories, and Cordoba reaching a high of over 45 degrees. Several other places (including Seville and Murcia) experienced temperatures of 44 degrees.

June, July and August saw very little rainfall with an average of just 36 mm throughout the country, with rainfall in June and July described as "below average" and August reported to be "the driest month of all."

AEMET said the high temperatures in Spain come in the context of the "exceptional global anomaly," which has seen the planet experience record high temperatures for the last consecutive 13 months.

The hot summer could also be followed by a warmer-than-average autumn as AEMET predicts "there is a greater possibility that temperatures will reach levels which are above the reference period of 1981 to 2001 in the entire country." Endit