Temperatures approaching 30 degrees Celsius were recorded today at Spainwhich hit by a heat wavewhich refers to the beginning of summer, in the middle of January, according to the country’s meteorological service Aemet, which expresses its concern in the face of this “anomaly”.

According to Aemet, thermometers showed 29.5 degrees Celsius this afternoon local time in the region of Valencia (east), 28.5 degrees Celsius in that of Murcia (southeast) and 27.8 degrees Celsius near Malaga, in the south part of Andalusia. Many local temperature records for the month of January were set across the country.

The mercury “reached or exceeded 20 degrees Celsius” in “almost 400 weather stations” in the country, that is, in almost 1 out of 2, Aemet spokesman Ruben del Campo emphasized.

In the small ski station of Puerto de Navacerrada, which is located in the Madrid region, at an altitude of 1,900 meters, the mercury did not fall below 10 degrees Celsius on the night of Wednesday into Thursday.

These are temperatures “normal for the middle or the end of June”, i.e. “summer”, Ruben del Campo underlined on the social networking site X, speaking of an “anomaly”.

According to David Corel, a researcher at the University of Valencia, this mid-winter heat, which is also recorded in south-eastern France, is caused by the presence of a strong anticyclone over the Mediterranean.

“There are no studies yet to assess the long-term trend of this type of episode, but it is clear that we are experiencing these kinds of unusual situations more and more often,” he explained to AFPTV.

Spain is facing more and more frequent heat episodes, in some cases outside of the summer months, which worries scientists.

The country has already recorded unusually high temperatures in December, with the mercury reaching 29.9 degrees Celsius in Malaga, Andalusia (south), a national record for the month of December.