These are the Costa del Sol holiday hotspots that recorded the highest temperatures in Spain today

It is unusual for Rincón de la Victoria on the eastern strip of the Costa del Sol, which has historically been considered something of a climatic refuge from the intense summer heat by the inhabitants of Malaga city, to set the national record in Spain for maximum temperatures. But the hot 'terral' wind affects these things, and depending on how it blows it has a greater influence in some places than in others.

At 12.10pm today, the Malaga province municipality reached 39C degrees, the highest temperature of the day in the whole of Spain, according to the data available on the website of the state weather agency (Aemet). In fact, as many as seven stations in the province were among the hottest places in the country, on an atypical summer day, marked by moderate gusts of wind from the west and high clouds.

The effect of the terral was also high in Vélez-Málaga, which tied the maximum temperature with its neighbouring municipality (39C) at 3.50pm. At similar levels there was Estepona at 38.8C; Torremolinos (38.6 degrees); Malaga Airport (38.3C); Algarrobo (37.9 degrees) and the Aemet headquarters in Malaga city (37.8C).

Outside Malaga province, high temperatures were also recorded in Spain in Tejeda (Las Palmas de Gran Canaria), with 38.8C; Murcia city (38.6)C; and Alhama de Murcia (37.9C). Although we will have to wait for these data to be validated by Aemet's meteorologists (it is usual for them to rise slightly), the thermometers already indicate the extent of the episode of warm weather that has been experienced today.

This summer Axarquia has been one of the hottest areas of the country on other occasions. In the previous episode of terral at the beginning of August, Vélez-Málaga already had one of the highest maximum temperatures in Spain, with 42.5C. And again Rincón de la Victoria was very close, with 42.1 degrees, followed by Torremolinos (41.9C).

The truth is that today's heat episode was less intense than expected, especially in the inland areas of the Guadalhorce valley. José Luis Escudero, a specialist in Malaga meteorology, explained it by the coincidence of the passage of a weather trough, with a wind and high-level cloudiness, which has prevented the mercury from soaring.

On Wednesday the terral will continue, but it will be milder and only during the day, as it is expected to turn east again in the evening. For this reason, on Thursday morning, 15 August, "a few drops" of rain could fall (Aemet gives a 55% chance) in the province. In any case, it will be nothing like what is expected in the neighbouring province of Almeria, which is under a yellow warning for rainfall of up to 20mm.

Another indicator of what is to come is the temperature of the sea water, which today measured 25.6C at the buoy in the Port of Malaga. It has already dropped more than one degree since yesterday (26.8), and the 27C on the 10 August. By Thursday it is expected to have dropped to about 22 degrees, so that the sensation of heat and high temperatures will decrease.