Highest ever average temperatures recorded in Spain for 2017

MADRID, Jan. 12 (Xinhua) -- Spain in 2017 experienced its highest average temperatures since records began, the Spanish Meteorological Agency (AEMET) said Friday.

The average temperature in Spain in 2017 was "extremely hot" with an average of 16.2 degrees Celsius, 1.1 degrees above the average for the period 1980-2010.

Seven of the ten hottest years since 1965 have been measured this century with five of them in the last decade.

"It seems climate change is now noticeable," AEMET said on its Twitter feed.

Six cities in Spain experienced their hottest ever temperatures, with 45.7 degrees registered at Granada airport the highest temperature measured in the country last year.

The high temperatures were also accompanied by an average level of rainfall which was "474 mm, 27 percent below average," in a year described as "very dry."

Rain was unevenly distributed with some areas in central and south-western Spain receiving less than "half the normal level" of rain, leaving water reserves in some reservoirs at less than 10 percent. Enditem