The State Meteorological Agency Aemet has activated weather warnings across much of Spain for Friday evening and Saturday. A total of 16 autonomous communities are on alert, with orange heat warnings in several provinces. The areas most affected are Aragon, Cataluña and the Comunidad Foral de Navarra; there, Aemet expected highs close to or above 40 degrees, especially in the Ebro basin and inland Cataluña.
Specifically, orange warnings were issued for Friday and Saturday in the following provinces: Huesca and Zaragoza (Aragón) and Barcelona, Girona, Lleida and Tarragona (Cataluña). In Navarra, the higher alert levels applied to the centre and the Pyrenees. Yellow alerts for expected high temperatures were in force in other parts of the country, including Andalusia, Castile and León, Castile-La Mancha, Extremadura, La Rioja, the Basque Country, the Community of Madrid, Mallorca and Gran Canaria.
At the same time, Aemet reported a risk of showers and thunderstorms in the north-west, with rain and thunderstorm warnings in parts of Asturias and Galicia and thunderstorm alerts for León and Zamora. On the Andalusian Atlantic coast, particularly off Cádiz, the weather service also warned of rough seas.
The meteorological trigger is considered to be a DANA (Depresión Aislada en Niveles Altos) approaching from the west. Very warm air is flowing inland ahead of it, while rising air currents could locally trigger thunderstorms with heavy rain, lightning and strong gusts. Aemet emphasised that the combination of heat and thunderstorms could bring highly variable conditions over short distances.
Health authorities advise caution in these conditions: drink plenty of fluids, move physical exertion to cooler parts of the day, keep indoor spaces cool and take particular care of children, older people and those with chronic illnesses. In affected areas, local authorities and civil protection services also urged people to follow local guidance, for example on temporary park closures or restrictions on recreational boating in rough seas.
The warnings cover the period from late Friday into Saturday. Aemet updates forecasts and alert levels continuously, so local upgrades or cancellations are possible. Forecasts remain dependent on how the DANA develops and the precise path of the thunderstorm cells.
Editor: Andreas M. Brucker (Article created with AI assistance).