There appears to be no end to the unusual weather patterns that have affected Spain over the past few weeks, as two of the country’s most popular tourist archipelagos are set to face weather on two ends of the temperature spectrum.
A DANA (high-altitude isolated depression) is forecast to affect the Mediterranean and the south of Spain, including Majorca, from Wednesday until November 16, bringing with it a mass of cold air that is set to see temperatures plummet.
The State Meteorological Agency, Aemet, expects the cold air to move from northern Europe to the southwest in the next few days, reaching the mainland and the Balearic Islands from Tuesday.
With it comes the increased likelihood of snow in mountainous areas.
However, further south by the African west coast, the Canary Islands are experiencing unseasonably high temperatures, with intense heat and light haze leaving record-high temperatures this weekend for November.
The increased instability due in the Mediterranean will be accompanied by the entry of a humid flow from the east, so it is likely to produce heavy and persistent rainfall in areas of the Balearics.
This is not a new message to Spaniards who are still reeling from the devastating floods that battered Valencia in late October and killed over 200 people.
While there is uncertainty regarding the position of the low and distribution of rainfall, the most likely scenario is that the rain will begin on Tuesday, with greater probability in the south of the Balearics. From Wednesday onwards, rainfall is likely to spread over a large part of the mainland in the form of snow in the mountain ranges, the Majorca Daily Bulletin reported.
The intense and persistent rain is later expected to reach the north of the Valencian community and the coasts and pre-coastal areas of Catalonia and possibly the Andalusian coast.
The rainfall is expected to lose intensity in the Mediterranean area from November 16.
At the other end of the spectrum in the Canaries, temperatures peaked at a staggering 35.7C in La Aldea de San Nicolas on Sunday, a new record, closely followed by Arucas (34.8C), La Graciosa (33.4C) and Anaga (33.3C), according to AEMET.
Even the daily lows stayed above 20C in most areas. In Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, temperatures hit 30C, while the southern and southeastern regions reported 31-32C, Canarian Weekly reported.
Sunday’s high temperatures persisted across the islands with 34.5C in La Aldea de San Nicolas at 1.10pm, with similar highs recorded at Mogan, Tenerife South Airport and Arico around midday.
The widespread impact of the heat and light haze (calima) is being felt across all islands.
The unusual November heatwave, with such extreme temperatures, is more typical of late summer than autumn. Meteorologists attribute the phenomenon to a combination of war air masses and Saharan dust carried by easterly winds.
However, AEMET did predict some relief on Monday, with haze expected to gradually diminish and temperatures drop.
