Spain's Met Office raises heat alert to amber on the Costa del Sol and these parts of Malaga province on Friday

Only the Ronda and Antequera areas will be spared from the amber weather warnings for extreme heat on Friday (12 July) in Malaga province, issued by Spain's state weather agency, Aemet. The alerts will be activated between 1pm and 9pm on the Costa del Sol, Axarquia, Malaga city and the Guadalhorce valley areas where the temperature is expected to exceed 39C.

This is the first major heat wave of the summer, which is also being felt in classic areas such as the Guadalquivir valley, especially in the Andalusian provinces of Seville, Cordoba and Jaen.

Malaga city will be under an amber extreme heat alert and reach a maximum of 39C on Friday with an ultraviolet index (UVI) of 10. The heat will then give way to a more bearable weekend. But therespite is short-lived because from Monday onwards there will be a couple of days with westerly winds and maximums of 35 and 34C.

In Marbella the maximum temperature this Friday is expected to be 38C (amber alert) and the minimum 21 degrees On Saturday the heat will ease (29/21), on Sunday also (28/19) and, as in Malaga city, the mercury will be a little higher on Monday and Tuesday (highs of 34C) to drop again from Wednesday.

In Vélez-Málaga, this Friday is repeated as in other areas with a UVI of 10. The amber warning will also be in place with a maximum of 39C expected and 23 degrees minimum. Over the weekend the mercury will not rise above 31C but on Monday it will reach 36, dropping to 34 degrees on Tuesday and 30 on Wednesday. The minimum temperatures from Saturday onwards will be around 20-21C, with no major fluctuation.

In Coín, in the Guadalhorce valley, the temperature will reach 42C this Friday. And the forecasts are less flattering for the following days than in other regions. On Saturday alone it will be 33 degrees. The atmosphere will heat up again on Sunday with 36C and on Monday and Tuesday, with 39 and 40 degrees. Wednesday promises a discreet drop to 34 degrees. The minimum temperature will be between 22 and 24 degrees every day.

In Ronda, the nights will have a minimum temperature of 20-21 degrees, but be aware that the UVI will be extremely high, at 11, this Friday, when the maximum temperature will be 35C. However, there will be no heat alerts activated. For the remainder of the days until Wednesday the maximum values will oscillate between 33 and 35 degrees.

The UVI level is also extreme (11) in Antequera on Friday. But there are no heat alerts in this area either, despite the fact that this Thursday the thermometers in the old town were registering over 41C. For Friday, a high of 36C and low of 21 degrees are forecast with 32C and 20 degrees on Saturday; 35C and 18C on Sunday; 34C and 19C on Monday; 36C and 19C on Tuesday, and 35C and 20C on Wednesday.