Aemet activates yellow and amber alerts for temperatures up to 40C in Malaga province today

Spain is in the midst of a heat wave. Most of the country will remain under high temperature warnings this Thursday (17 July), with 35 provinces on alert, a dozen of them at the amber (important) heat level, with highs of up to 41C, according to the forecast from the state meteorological agency (Aemet). Malaga will not escape this scorching heat. During the day, the province will have two warnings: a yellow one in the Sol, Malaga city and Guadalhorce areas and an amber one in Antequera. Between 1pm and 9pm, Aemet forecasts temperatures of between 36 and 40C, respectively, in both areas.

The Andalucía region faces its warmest day of the week this Thursday, with all provinces in the region, without exception, under alert for high temperatures of up to 41C. The warnings will be amber in Malaga (the Antequera area), Cordoba, Granada, Jaén, and Seville. The good news is that Aemet expects a drop in temperatures to begin on Friday due to the arrival of cooler westerly winds from the Atlantic, according to the forecast offered by Aemet spokesperson Rubén del Campo.

However, in the case of Malaga, the city and the surrounding areas are preparing to experience what will probably be the hottest episode of heat so far this summer. It will begin on Friday, when an incoming land-based 'terral' wind is expected. This thermal upturn will also raise the thermometers to between 24 and 26C at night, which will be even more tropical than usual.

The terral will foreseeably be accompanied by a drop in sea temperatures. This wind favours the phenomenon of "upwelling", when the warmer water on the surface moves out to sea and favours the rise of colder currents with more nutrients. It is a kind of natural resetting of the water. Last Thursday the buoy in Malaga measured 27Cand this Tuesday it had dropped to 19 degrees. For those who feel the cold, therefore, bathing will once again be chilly.