Mercury set to drop 10C after Sunday’s scorching 32 degrees on the Costa del Sol

It was an intensely hot day this Sunday (26 March) in Malaga, with temperatures of 30C at various points along the Costa del Sol, especially in the Malaga city. Spain’s state weather agency had forecast a considerable rise in maximum temperatures in the Mediterranean area for today, and in Malaga city it resulted in a summer-like day, with a lot of people filling the promenades and beaches despite the moderate winds from the northwest.

But the heat of this Sunday will give way to a curious phenomenon on Monday. The reason? The possible entry of a ‘mini galerma’ in the province - when there is a sudden change in the wind direction with strong gusts that can cause temperature to drop, a phenomenon more typical of the north of Spain.

As reported by José Luis Escudero on his SUR blog Storms and Lightning “in the early hours of the morning (Monday), it is likely that we will have strong gusts of wind; but we'll have to see if the mini galerna occurs”, he said. Escudero said that the probability of this abrupt change is not very high, since the phenomenon occurs more in summer than in spring, but it could happen. "This sudden change can produce very strong gusts of wind that last 5 or 6 minutes, which can be up to 60 kilometres per hour," he explained.

In fact, Aemet has forecast a maximum of 22C for Monday in Malaga city when 32 degrees was registered this Sunday. In other areas such as Marbella, it is expected that the mercury will not rise above 22C; 24 degrees in Vélez-Málaga or 21C in Ronda.