Record nighttime minimum temperature beaten on the Costa del Sol in August, a month with 23 'equatorial' nights

The overall average temperature month, taking into account day and night, was just shy of a record at Malaga Airport (28.8C versus last year's 28.9 degrees)

Almudena Nogués

Malaga

Friday, 6 September 2024, 14:00

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Few people in Malaga provnice will have been able to get to sleep easily without the air-conditioning on or a fan running in August. And the official figures confirm it. While the overall average temperature last month, taking into account day and night, was just shy of a record at Malaga Airport (28.8C versus last year's 28.9 degrees), the nighttime minimum has broken its record. The average minimum was 24.5C, the highest on record. This included eight nights classed as tropical (over 20C) and 23 classed as equatorial (over 25C), according to José Luis Escudero.

The sea off the Costa del Sol is as warm as the Caribbean this summer, new data shows.

The water at Malaga Port reached 28.3 degrees on two occasions at the end of August, according to port officials. The figure puts the Alboran Sea (the part of the Mediterranean off Andalucía) on a par with the warm waters of the Caribbean, which range from 28 and 30 degrees.

Meanwhile, Fuengirola has broken its own record. According to the Spanish institute of Oceanography (IEO), the holiday resort's seawater reached the highest temperature since records began in 1984. "For the first time in 40 years, 27C has been recorded," the IEO said on 29 August.

SUR weather expert José Luis Escudero said the explanation was simple; "The long summer days and sun's rays, which increase the air temperature and heat up the first centimetres of the upper layer of the ocean."

"However, two other factors must be present to square the circle: that there are no continuous episodes of warm terral wind or easterly storms to stir up the water," he added.

The hottest water since records began in Malaga Port (29.1 degrees) was in August 2015. "In Malaga we are very close to the Atlantic, so cold currents come in from that area. This means that in summer our waters are less warm than those around Murcia, Alicante or Barcelona, where last year they reached 30C," he added.

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