The State Meteorological Agency (AEMET) has updated its forecast for this Friday, maintaining warnings for extreme heat and calima across much of Spain, with the Canary Islands once again among the areas most affected.
High Temperatures and Alerts in the Archipelago
Temperatures will remain unusually high, prompting orange-level alerts (significant risk) for Gran Canaria, Lanzarote, and Fuerteventura, where highs of 37–38ºC are expected. The remaining islands—Tenerife, La Palma, La Gomera, and El Hierro—are also under warnings for excessive heat, albeit at a slightly lower level.
In addition to the Canary Islands, warnings for high temperatures are active in several mainland provinces, including Guipúzcoa, Vizcaya, Orense, Badajoz, Cáceres, Cuenca, Córdoba, Jaén, Seville, and Cantabria (Liébana). In parts of Andalusia and Extremadura, maximums are forecast to reach 38ºC, particularly in the valleys and depressions.
Dust in Suspension: Reduced Visibility
AEMET has also issued dust-in-suspension alerts for the entire Canary archipelago. The presence of Saharan dust will reduce visibility to 3,000 metres, with the phenomenon particularly intense in the midlands and on south-facing slopes. Calima may also extend, though more lightly, to parts of southern and western mainland Spain.
Local Disruptions: Education and Teide Storms
The extreme conditions are already impacting daily life. Seven schools in Tenerife have suspended face-to-face classes due to the heat. Meanwhile, on Mount Teide, an intense storm broke out amid the heatwave, producing hail and heavy rain despite the high-temperature alerts.
Weather Dynamics: Subtropical Air Mass
The overall situation is driven by the arrival of a subtropical air mass, bringing abundant medium and high clouds. Over the mainland, cloud cover will move from south to north, although the eastern coast is expected to remain mostly clear.
During the afternoon, convective activity will develop over the central plateau, surrounding mountain ranges, the Upper Ebro, and western regions. AEMET warns of the likelihood of strong storms, potentially accompanied by locally intense showers and very strong gusts of wind. In the Canary Islands, occasional storms and showers cannot be ruled out.
Elsewhere, low clouds are likely in the morning across eastern mainland regions, the lower Ebro valley, the Balearic Islands, the Strait of Gibraltar, Melilla, and western Galicia, with some morning fog banks expected.
Temperature Trends
- Maximums: A general decrease is forecast across mainland Spain, except in Galicia and the Canary Islands, where little change is expected. Temperatures will continue to exceed 35ºC in many areas, reaching up to 38ºC in parts of the Canary Islands and southern Atlantic coast. Even in the northern plateau, Galicia’s south, the eastern Cantabrian coast, and the Ebro basin, 35ºC cannot be ruled out.
- Minimums: Rising in the west and north-central mainland, with little variation elsewhere. Overnight lows will remain high—above 20ºC in much of the Mediterranean, the Ebro valley, and the southwest quadrant, and up to 25ºC in parts of the Canary Islands.
Wind Conditions
Moderate easterly winds will dominate along the southern mainland coast, the southern Balearic Islands, and Cádiz, with strong intervals and very strong gusts possible in the Strait of Gibraltar. Elsewhere, winds will remain mostly light, varying by region:
- East and northeast in the Canary Islands.
- North and west along the Cantabrian coast.
- South and west over the northern plateau and Galicia.
- East and south in the rest of mainland Spain.
