Malaga province sees the last gasp of the cold weather before temperatures rise
After 48 freezing hours, temperatures will return to near 20C over the weekend, with no possibility of rain
Winter arrived in Malaga in time for the Three Kings, but it looks like it only lasted for 48 hours.
As state meteorological agency Aemet predicted, a mass of Arctic air arrived in the late hours of Monday, right on time for the traditional parade ('cabalgata) and stayed until Wednesday.
But the short-lived wintry situation normalised on Thursday, with temperatures slightly more typical for this time of year, director of Aemet Jesús Riesco explained.
According to the weather expert, Malaga province experienced the rare phenomenon after a "colder than normal" December.
Three Kings Day had the lowest maximum temperature since records began in Malaga province
In numbers, the highlights from these unusual 48 hours were: the lowest maximum temperature of 11.6C on 6 January since records began in 1942 and the eighth lowest minimum temperature of 5.1C. There was another drop to a minimum of 3.4C in the early hours of the morning on 7 January.
Back to normality
From Thursday onwards, the atmospheric situation will return to the usual, softer winter. Westerly and southerly winds will continue, but no new rain is expected and maximum temperatures will be around 17C to 19C (9-12C minimum) in Malaga city and the coast of the province. The average maximum temperature in January is 17.4C and the minimum is 8.1C, so the values expected on Thursday are closer to that.
Temperatures are also expected to considerably rise in the interior of the provice from Thursday onwards. After some very cold days, with minimum values below zero, maximum temperatures will be around 12-13C, while minimum temperaures of 4-5C are expected in places such as the Antequera district.
2025 was very warm and humid in Malaga
Aemet has also taken stock of the past year, which has been "humid" and "extraordinarily warm" in the province. An average rainfall of 696mm was recorded, which is 108% over the average in a normal year. In terms of temperatures, although December was cold, the average temperature was 18.1C, 1.4C above normal, making it an "extraordinarily warm" year. In the historical ranking, this was the third warmest year, tied with 2024. For this reason, Riesco has been warning about the advance of climate change. The four warmest years in history in the province have been 2023 and 2022 (tied with 18.4C) and then 2025 and 2024.
