The Canary Islands holidays: UK holidaymakers warned popular holiday hotspot will have 'abnormally hot' weather this summer

An exceptionally hot summer has been forecast for the popular holiday destination the Canary Islands with predictions indicating temperatures will be significantly above average. Eltiempo.es reports that June, July, and August are expected to bring higher-than-normal temperatures.

June is forecast to have slightly above-average temperatures, and the summer will also see increased rainfall. Last year, the Canary Islands experienced unprecedented heat, with temperatures soaring up to 46.2°C. This extreme weather was linked to the deaths of 81 people due to heat-related symptoms.

The islands recorded 200 temperature records across various weather stations, including 71 for the highest monthly average temperature, 63 for the highest average maximum temperatures, 76 for the highest average minimum temperatures, and 28 for the highest absolute maximum temperatures. The average temperature last summer was 24.5 °C, 1.8 degrees higher than usual. 

The islands experienced two hot spells in June and July, followed by two heat waves in August, making it the hottest August on record for the Canary Islands. The heat was most intense in Gran Canaria, Lanzarote, and Fuerteventura.

The forecast comes after weather experts told NationalWorld that Spain is expected to be “hotter than normal” this summer. Spain’s State Meteorological Agency, AEMET, said that this summer is “expected to be drier than usual” and “very hot”.

The weather service added: “The probability that it will be hotter than normal in Spain is very high (more than 70%) throughout the country and the rest of southern Europe. There is even a high probability (between 50 and 70%) that the summer of 2024 will be very hot, that is, that its temperature will be in the range of the 20% hottest recorded in Spain.”

“Then we will likely have to face heat waves. Summers in Spain often suffer from a lack of rain, but next summer is expected to be drier than usual.”