Spain faces record heat and drought patterns in 2023
Spain’s State Meteorological Agency confirms that 2023, along with 2022, ranks as the hottest period on record since at least 1916. This conclusion comes from climate reconstructions by public institution experts who track long-term temperature trends across the country.
Both years are set to top the heat chart, separated by roughly half a degree. The sequence continues with 2020 and 2017 occupying the next positions in the extreme heat lineup. If the data from meteorological stations are accurate, 2023 is projected to finish as the second hottest year in the series that begins in 1961, just behind 2022.
The indicators also highlight a prolonged drought in the meteorological record. Spain has experienced unusually low rainfall in 2023, with particularly intense dryness in Catalonia and the Guadiana and Guadalquivir basins. Southern Andalusia records reflect the longest drought in the historical series, signaling widespread moisture stress across major basins.
The year has also stood out for its dryness. The lack of rainfall and high temperatures created a climate pattern with limited cooling periods, contributing to a notably dry season across much of the peninsula.
Forecast for 2024
Looking ahead, a complete forecast for 2024 is not available yet. However, expectations point to temperatures staying above normal through spring. The outlook for rainfall over the next three months suggests above-average precipitation in the northwest portion of the peninsula in the most probable scenario.
Early observations emphasize that 2023 was exceptionally warm with no months registering below-average temperatures. The final December balance remains to be confirmed, but the year already stands out for its heat intensity.
Seven months with very high temperatures in 2023
A regional assessment shows that three months were normal, two months were hot, and seven months were markedly hot, with temperature records broken by substantial margins. The summer ranks among the warmest on record, following 2022 and 2003, while autumn appears as one of the warmer seasons, just behind the previous year.
On daily scales, extraordinary heat was common. The annual record includes a statement from the agency noting that a large share of days reached temperatures near the historic high. In some months, temperatures stayed unusually elevated across days, while rainfall remained sparse for much of the year.
By late December, rainfall totals were well below average across the country. The year accumulated around 534 liters per square meter across Spain, approximately 15 percent under normal before any late-year rain. The agency’s indicators suggest 2023 will be among the seven driest years in the historical series and likely the fourth driest of the current century. Regional variability was pronounced, with December delivering only about half of the normal precipitation for the period, a pattern that contrasted with the typically rainier December in most years.
The overall picture points to a year of heat stress coupled with moisture scarcity, shaping a climate narrative that spans the country from the hills of Catalonia to the southern basins and the Iberian interior.