The meteorological station of Agadir, in southern Morocco, recorded a maximum temperature of 50.4° Celsius on Friday, which is considered a new national record, the Kingdom’s General Directorate of Meteorology (GDM) announced yesterday.

The previous record was set on July 13 in Samarra, Western Sahara, and was 49.9°C, according to the GDM.

This was the first time a temperature above fifty degrees Celsius was recorded in Morocco, always according to the kingdom’s meteorological service.

Since the beginning of summer, the whole of Morocco has been hit by a series of heat waves and recorded record-breaking temperatures.

“The heatwave is due to dry and warm air masses from the south causing a noticeable rise in temperatures, exceeding the monthly average by 5 to 13 degrees, especially in the week of Friday 11th and Saturday 12th August,” explained GDM in a statement .

Forest fires have been attributed to the heatwave in recent days in the northern part of the country, near Tangier and further east, in Taza province.

These fires, of limited extent, but strengthened by strong winds, caused damage or destroyed several thousand hectares of forest area, without causing any casualties.

According to the European Copernicus service, July 2023 was the warmest ever recorded on Earth, surpassing by 0.33°C the month that held the title until now (July 2019).

As far as Morocco is concerned, this July was the fourth warmest since 1961.

However, the GDM predicts a slight drop in temperatures in the northern part of the Maghreb state in the coming days.