Drought-stricken Spain has confirmed that last month was the hottest and driest April since records began in 1961.
The State Meteorological Agency, AEMET, said on Monday that the average daily temperature in April was 14.9C, and which is 3C above the average.
AEMET also said that average maximum temperatures during the month were up by 4.7C.
Rainfall was a fifth of what would normally be expected in the month, making it the driest April on record in Spain.
Last year was Spain’s hottest since record-keeping started in 1961, and also the country’s sixth driest. ALSO READ: Confirmed: 2022 was Spain’s hottest year on record.
Three years of scant rainfall and high temperatures put the country officially into long-term drought earlier this year.
A flash study by a group of international scientists last week found that record-breaking April temperatures in Spain, Portugal and northern Africa were made 100 times more likely by human-caused climate change and would have been almost impossible in the past.
The government has requested emergency funds from the European Union to support farmers and ranchers whose crops are being affected by the situation. ALSO READ: Spain requests emergency funds from EU as drought hits farmers.
De la serie que comienza en 1961, abril ha sido, en media, el mes más cálido y seco en la España peninsular. Sin llegar a eso extremos, también Canarias y Baleares han tenido, en conjunto, un claro carácter seco y cálido. +info: https://t.co/PY7tmWws2C y https://t.co/vHCHViO6T3. pic.twitter.com/urOnOcavsJ
— AEMET (@AEMET_Esp) May 5, 2023
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