Spain braces for a week of scorching summer temperatures in spring

Officials weigh opening public swimming pools early and adapting school schedules as meteorologists warn of the risk of wildfires

Spain is bracing for a week of temperatures as high as 40C that are forecast to shatter records for April, as officials weighed opening public swimming pools early and adapting school schedules and meteorologists warned of the risk of wildfires.

Coinciding with a long-running drought, the cause for the predicted hike in temperatures is "the progressive entry of a very warm and dry air mass from Africa coupled with atmospheric stability (meaning unchangeable weather) and strong sunshine", Spain's weather agency AEMET said on Tuesday.

These unseasonable temperatures would be "typical of summer" and "exceptionally high for these dates", AEMET added, with the mercury expected to creep up to 38-40 degrees Celsius (100-104 Fahrenheit) in the southern Guadalquivir Valley that includes the city of Cordoba.

That would be the highest figure for April since official recordkeeping of Spanish meteorological data began in 1961. The previous monthly high of 37.4C was recorded in the eastern region of Murcia on April 9, 2011.

AEMET spokesman Ruben del Campo told reporters that because of the abnormal heat, large swathes of the country would be at high or extreme risk of wildfires.

He previously said that rising temperatures in Spain were "clearly attributable to climate change, which has led to higher temperatures on a global scale".

The government of the central Madrid region on Monday announced a special action plan, including measures to allow schools to adapt their timetables around peak temperatures and ensuring proper air conditioning at health centres.

Under the plan, Madrid's ubiquitous outdoor swimming pools, where locals flock as the temperatures climb each year, will open a month earlier than usual, in mid-May.

The capital's subway system is also set to crank up the A/C and increase train frequency to avoid overcrowding.

Meanwhile, the southwestern city of Sevilla has boosted its emergency services budget and increased healthcare worker numbers as it celebrates its popular "Feria de Abril" spring fair that last year attracted an estimated 500,000 revellers.

In its annual State of the Climate report, the EU's Copernicus Climate Change Service said southern Europe experienced the highest number of days with "very strong heat stress" on record in 2022.