Climate Change

Spain records hottest year ever in 2022

AP file photo
A woman holds an umbrella to shelter from the sun during a hot sunny day in Madrid on July 18.

12:45 JST, December 28, 2022

MADRID (AP) — Spain is about to conclude its hottest year on record, the nation’s weather service said Dec. 21.

Spain’s national weather service said preliminary data indicates that 2022 will finish with average daily temperatures above 15 C for the first time since records started in 1961.

The four hottest years on record for the southern European country have all come since 2015, it said.

The service added that, even with recent rainfalls, Spain is also poised to record one of its driest years. Only 2005 and 2017 saw less rainfall at this point on the calendar.

Europe has suffered an exceptionally dry and hot year that has favored explosive wild fires, damaged crop yields and led to water restrictions. European authorities and experts link the extreme weather to climate change.