Long heatwave reaches Malaga province: amber warning for maximum temperatures of up to 42C this weekend

The (long) heatwave that has been raging in Spain for almost two weeks has reached Malaga province. According to state meteorological agency Aemet, Ronda and the Antequera district will be under an amber warning for temperatures of up to 41-42C on Sunday, 17 August, while the western Costa and the Guadalhorce area will be under a yellow alert for up to 38C.

The heat will gradually make its way to Ronda and Antequera, with a yellow warning for up to 39C on Saturday. Despite the light winds, the interior of the province will exceed 40C. Marbella and Vélez-Málaga can expect 35C and 37C, respectively.

Watch out, because the nights will once again be "torrid" or "equatorial", with very high minimum temperatures in most of the province: 27C in Malaga city, 24C in the Antequera district and 26C in Marbella, Ronda and Vélez.

A total of 46 provinces in Spain have active warnings for high temperatures this Friday. The alert has been raised to red on the Cantabrian coast and in Vizcaya, for maximum temperatures of up to 40C, while another 24 provinces are under an amber alert.

The forecast points to "significantly high temperatures in most of the peninsula, as well as in areas of the Balearic and Canary Islands". In addition, Aemet predicts "a notable increase in maximum temperatures in the Cantabrian Sea, while locally notable decreases are expected on the Galician Atlantic coast".

The provinces with an active amber alert will be Valencia (region of Valencia), La Rioja (Ribera del Ebro de La Rioja), Álava and Guipúzcoa (Basque Country), Comunidad Foral de Navarra (Centro de Navarra and Ribera del Ebro de Navarra), Lugo and Ourense (Galicia), Badajoz and Cáceres (Extremadura), Lleida and Tarragona (Catalonia), Ciudad Real and Toledo (Castilla-La Mancha), Ávila, Salamanca, Valladolid and Zamora (Castilla y León), Cantabria (Liébana, Centro y Valle de Villaverde and Cantabria del Ebro), Principado de Asturias (Suroccidental asturiana, Central y Valles Mineros and Cordillera y Picos de Europa), Huesca and Zaragoza (Aragón) and Cordoba, Jaén and Seville (Andalucía).

According to Aemet, the heatwave, which has been active since Sunday, 3 August, could continue for a few more days, affecting the whole of the Spanish mainland, except the Cantabrian area.

"The synoptic configuration remains fairly stationary in our environment, favouring the persistence of a warm and dry air mass over much of the Peninsula and the Canary Islands. Although in recent days there have been decreases in temperatures due to afternoon storms and increased cloudiness, the increased stability and high sunshine typical of these dates will lead to a further rise in temperatures from today, with very high thermal values that will probably remain until Monday, 18," Aemet said.