Last month was the hottest August in Malaga and on the Costa del Sol since records began in 1942

Malaga has registered its hottest August on record, just a month after the province recorded its warmest July in recent times.

The average overall temperature at Malaga Airport, according to the official weather station's statistics, was 29C, making last month the hottest August since records have been kept in 1942. It surpassed the previous hottest August in 2020 where 28.2 degrees was the average, or August 2015 with 28, according to Spain's state weather agency, Aemet.

In the province, the average temperature was 27.7, which again beats the record of 27.3 in 2012.

The month also marked other milestones such as the average maximum temperatures: 33.7 degrees; and also the average minimum: 24.2C. In this case, the previous record was from 2015.

All in the 21st century

"All recent years in August since 2018 have been hot, very hot or extremely hot," said Jesús Riesco, director of Aemet Met Office in Malaga. It is likely that this year's will end up being the hottest summer since records have been kept, he added.

Riesco said there were two reasons, the first being the local 'terral' wind, which led the mercury exceeding 40 degrees on four days in August. The second factor was that the minimum temperatures were exceptionally high throughout the month. "They were above 24 degrees every day; we had several days of 'terral' and warm air masses coming in," Riesco said.

August followed the trend started in July, which was also the hottest in Malaga city since official records started.

Forecast for September

Aemet forecast the highs will remain around 28 degrees, with a rising possibility of rain, although the lows will remain high, above 20C.

At the weekend there is still a possibility of showers, although very weak and scattered. This will be due to the change in wind to the east and cold air at altitude. This situation will continue, according to Aemet, at least until Sunday.

The medium-term weather predictions of the meteorological models point to the possibility that more rain will begin to be seen in the province over the next few weeks, although in the short term Aemet has not yet forecast them.