'Cool' June breaks two-year long weather pattern in Spain

Spain recorded a below average temperature in June, the first time in 25 consecutive months this has happened.

Although minimum temperatures were somewhat above normal, it was the daytime temperatures where the drop was most noticeable, with a difference of more than half a degree from normal, mainly due to cloud cover and rain, according to state weather agency (Aemet) data. This has not happened since April 2022. The thermometer fell below two degrees in some inland areas in the north of the country, such as Burgos.

Meteorologist and Aemet spokesperson José Luis Camacho said this is "good news" and that although it has been a cooler month than normal, there have been warmer areas, such as Alicante, Murcia and Almería. "We can say that it has given us a break, that it has been a June like those of the past, closer to the climate we had thirty years ago," he said.

June 2024 was cold overall, with an average temperature over mainland Spain of 19.9 degrees, which is 0.2 degrees below the average for this month (reference period: 1991-2020). It was the eighth coldest June of the 21st century and the first month in Spain to record below average temperatures since April 2022, bringing to an end a period of 25 consecutive warm months, the longest streak in the entire historical series. If we compare it with the average temperature in June 2023 (which ended with an average of 21.1 degrees), the difference is substantial: 1.2 degrees.

June was cool in large areas of the centre and southwest of the Iberian Peninsula, as well as in the east of Catalonia, while it was warm in the Levante area, in the interior of the Ebro basin and in the southern half of Galicia, becoming very warm in coastal areas of the southeast. The rest of Spain was normal. In the Balearic Islands, June was warm or very warm, while in the Canary Islands it was normal overall.

The cooler temperatures were especially due to daytime maximums, with highs being 0.6 degrees below normal, while lows were 0.3 degrees above their normal values. Camacho said the highs dropped more than the lows due to cloud cover and rainfall over the past month. Further back in the history books, from 1961 to 2020, June 2024 is still warmer than the average of those almost six decades.

There were two brief warm spells and also three short-lived cold spells. The highest temperature in the main Aemet network was recorded at Cordoba Airport, with 40.5 degrees on 6 June. The lowest, as noted, was in Burgos Airport, with 1.9 degrees on 13 June.

June 2024 was also very wet in terms, with 47.8mm recorded in Spain, 149% of the normal figure for the month (reference period: 1991-2020). It was the fifth wettest June of the 21st century, according to the data.

It was a wet to very wet month in large areas of northern, central, and eastern Spain, while it was normal in scattered areas in the north and northeast, as well as in some parts of central and southern Spain. In contrast, in areas in the southeast and centre-south, it was dry, and very dry in the southeast of Andalucía. In the Balearic islands it showed a mixture of wet and normal conditions, with some very dry areas.

The highest daily precipitation in the main network was recorded on 11 June at Palma de Mallorca Airport with 80.2mm, which is the highest figure for June since 1951. In terms of total rainfall for the month, the 188.9mm at Donostia / San Sebastián / Igueldo stood out. At the same time, the 107.2mm at Palma de Mallorca Airport, and the 102.2mm at Murcia, make June 2024 the wettest June in its history at both observatories.

As for what awaits us throughout July, Camacho said that after the beginning of the month with "more or less normal" temperatures, in the next few days "intense heat will be coming", with amber alerts for high temperatures in parts of Andalucía, Murcia, the Ebro Valley and the south of the Valencian region.