Arrival of hot 'terral' wind forces Aemet to activate amber and yellow heat warnings along Costa del Sol

The current heatwave appears to be coming to an end in Spain, but there are still a few days of high temperatures left in some parts of the Spanish mainland. In Malaga province the thermometers will continue to soar, especially in inland areas, and the dreaded "terral" wind will arrive again, which increases the feeling of sticky heat so typical of the city.

For this Tuesday 19 August, a local holiday in Malaga city, Spain's state meteorological agency has issued an amber warning for high temperatures in the western Costa del Sol area, which includes Malaga city, and towns in the Guadalhorce valley, and warned of the presence of land-based 'terral' winds. The alert will be active from 1pm to 9pm Tuesday and temperatures of up to 39C are expected. In the case of the Axarquia area the warning for high temperatures remains yellow, with up to 37C on the cards.

As José Luis Escudero, head of the SUR weather blog, Tormentas y Rayos, points out, the arrival of the terral wind was forecast for Tuesday and Wednesday. Moderate to strong gusts are expected from early afternoon. How long will it last? This Tuesday and Wednesday at the latest, but by the middle of the week the temperatures will be milder.

In fact, Aemet considers the heatwave in the Andalucía region of southern Spain to be over, with the exception of Malaga and Almeria provinces on Tuesday, which will continue to experience very high temperatures. The regional delegate of Aemet in Andalucía, Juan de Dios del Pino, stressed that "the arrival of westerly winds will lower temperatures appreciably".

The exception will be the province of Malaga as, both on Tuesday and Wednesday, the 'terral' will activate "warnings for high temperatures on the Costa del Sol and in the Guadalhorce valley areas". However, once this episode is over, "temperatures will start to drop again, as in the Andalusian region as a whole".