Spain records hottest year ever in 2022

FILE - A woman holds an umbrella to shelter from the sun during a hot sunny day in Madrid, Spain, Monday, July 18, 2022. Spain’s national weather service said preliminary data indicates that 2022 will finish with average daily temperatures above 15 degrees Celsius (59 degrees Fahrenheit) for the first time since records started in 1961. It says that the four hottest years on record for the southern European country have all come since 2015. (AP Photo/Manu Fernandez, File)

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

Spain’s national weather service said preliminary data indicates that 2022 will finish with average daily temperatures above 15 degrees Celsius (59 degrees Fahrenheit) 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 adds 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 that has favored , and led to . European authorities and experts link the extreme weather to .

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