The Servei Meteorològic de Catalunya (Meteocat), Catalonia's public weather service, has issued high-temperature warnings for 22 counties as a heat episode is forecast to continue until at least Wednesday 5 August.

Residents in Ponent, the Alt Pirineu, the Prepirineu, Central Catalonia and the Barcelona metropolitan area should check local forecasts, particularly during the afternoon. Meteocat has warned that the heat also raises wildfire risk.

Forecasts indicate that temperatures may approach or reach 40°C in parts of western Catalonia and the Prepirineu. These are forecasts rather than guarantees, and local conditions can change.

“It was exceptional, but now it is starting to seem normal,” said Jordi Cunillera, head of Meteocat’s climate change unit, referring to the increasing frequency of temperatures above 40°C.

Orange warnings in nine counties

Meteocat activated warnings for Wednesday 29 and Thursday 30 July, with nine counties at orange level, the highest level specified in the warning information available for those days.

  • Orange warnings: Vall d’Aran, Pallars Sobirà, Alta Ribagorça, Pallars Jussà, Alt Urgell, Berguedà, Solsonès and Noguera, as well as Segrià on Thursday.
  • Yellow warnings: areas including Pla d’Urgell, Garrigues, Urgell, Segarra, Cerdanya, Ripollès, Osona, Lluçanès and Vallès Oriental.
  • Forecast period: Meteocat said the heat episode could extend from Wednesday 29 July until at least Wednesday 5 August.

On Tuesday, temperatures neared 39°C in Lleida and reached 37–38°C across much of Ponent, as well as parts of Pallars and Central Catalonia, according to Meteocat information reported ahead of the episode.

How to check conditions in your municipality

People planning outdoor work, travel or exercise can use Meteocat’s municipal forecast service to select their town or city and review the latest predicted temperatures. The service also publishes automatic weather-station summaries with observed conditions across Catalonia.

Meteocat has had an extensive automatic observation network since 2007, according to its climate change unit. Its records show that days exceeding 40°C were comparatively rare before 2014, when the average was about one and a half days a year across the network.

Reported by naciodigital.cat, Laura Castaño Martín, Regió7 / Guifré Jordan (ACN), ACN, 3CatInfo, Guifré Jordan (ACN), J.G, Servei Meteorològic de Catalunya. Generalitat de Catalunya, [email protected], Andrea Valenzuela García, El Nacional, europapress.es.