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WEATHER

Spain swelters in abnormal January heat

Spain is grappling with unusually warm temperatures for a winter month as a mass of hot air pushed the mercury to just shy of 30 degrees Celsius (86 Fahrenheit) in some regions.

Published: 26 January 2024 09:18 CET
Spain swelters in abnormal January heat
Spain also recorded unusually high temperatures in December, with the mercury peaking at 29.9C in Málaga, a national record for the month. (Photo by PIERRE-PHILIPPE MARCOU / AFP)

Temperatures reached or exceeded 20C at nearly 400 meteorological stations — almost half the country’s total –, the spokesman for national weather agency Aemet Rubén del Campo wrote on X, formerly Twitter, calling the figures an “anomaly”.

The mercury rose to 29.5C in the eastern region of Valencia, 28.5C in Murcia in the southeast and 27.8C near Málaga in the south — temperatures usually seen in June not January.

Overnight temperatures have also been warmer than normal.

The mercury did not drop below 10C overnight Wednesday in the small ski resort of Puerto de Navacerrada near Madrid, which is 1,900 metres (6,200 feet) above sea level and is normally covered in snow at this time of year.

The winter heat, which has also affected southeast France, was caused by the presence of a powerful anticyclone above the Mediterranean, said David Corell, a researcher at the University of Valencia.

“There are no studies yet that have evaluated the long-term trend of this type of event but it is clear that we are experiencing this type of abnormal situation more and more frequently,” he told AFPTV.

Spain also recorded unusually high temperatures in December, with the mercury peaking at 29.9C in Málaga, a national record for the month.

The heat comes amid a prolonged drought affecting much of the country, especially the northeast region of Catalonia and the southwest region of Andalusia.

In Catalan capital of Barcelona, Spain’s second-largest city, water reservoir levels fell in mid-January to around 17 percent of their capacity.

If they fall below 16 percent of their capacity — which could be imminent — the region will declare a state of emergency.

As global temperatures rise due to climate change, scientists have warned that heatwaves will become more frequent and more intense.

READ ALSO: How the heat in Spain is changing tourists’ habits

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CLIMATE CRISIS

‘Extreme’ climate blamed for world’s worst wine harvest in 62 years

World wine production dropped 10 percent last year, the biggest fall in more than six decades, because of "extreme" climate changes, the body that monitors the trade said on Thursday.

Published: 26 April 2024 08:48 CEST
'Extreme' climate blamed for world's worst wine harvest in 62 years

“Extreme environmental conditions” including droughts, fires and other problems with climate were mostly to blame for the drastic fall, said the International Organisation of Vine and Wine (OIV) that covers nearly 50 wine producing countries.

Australia and Italy suffered the worst, with 26 and 23 percent drops. Spain lost more than a fifth of its production. Harvests in Chile and South Africa were down by more than 10 percent.

The OIV said the global grape harvest was the worst since 1961, and worse even than its early estimates in November.

In further bad news for winemakers, customers drank three per cent less wine in 2023, the French-based intergovernmental body said.

Director John Barker highlighted “drought, extreme heat and fires, as well as heavy rain causing flooding and fungal diseases across major northern and southern hemisphere wine producing regions.”

Although he said climate problems were not solely to blame for the drastic fall, “the most important challenge that the sector faces is climate change.

“We know that the grapevine, as a long-lived plant cultivated in often vulnerable areas, is strongly affected by climate change,” he added.

France bucked the falling harvest trend, with a four percent rise, making it by far the world’s biggest wine producer.

Wine consumption last year was however at its lowest level since 1996, confirming a fall-off over the last five years, according to the figures.

The trend is partly due to price rises caused by inflation and a sharp fall in wine drinking in China – down a quarter – due to its economic slowdown.

The Portuguese, French and Italians remain the world’s biggest wine drinkers per capita.

Barker said the underlying decrease in consumption is being “driven by demographic and lifestyle changes. But given the very complicated influences on global demand at the moment,” it is difficult to know whether the fall will continue.

“What is clear is that inflation is the dominant factor affecting demand in 2023,” he said.

Land given over to growing grapes to eat or for wine fell for the third consecutive year to 7.2 million hectares (17.7 million acres).

But India became one of the global top 10 grape producers for the first time with a three percent rise in the size of its vineyards.

France, however, has been pruning its vineyards back slightly, with its government paying winemakers to pull up vines or to distil their grapes.

The collapse of the Italian harvest to its lowest level since 1950 does not necessarily mean there will be a similar contraction there, said Barker.

Between floods and hailstones, and damp weather causing mildew in the centre and south of the country, the fall was “clearly linked to meteorological conditions”, he said.

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