A new heatwave is expected over southern Europe

After a temporary temperature drop forecast for this weekend, a new heatwave is expected over southern Europe in the first days of June, with temperatures potentially peaking in the low 40C’s (104°F) in the Mediterranean area.

Temperatures will drop significantly in the next few hours over most of central and southern Europe and will be below the average in some locations, especially on Sunday morning.

But a new heatwave is just around the corner.

For Portugal, Spain, Italy and then the Balkans the ongoing warmth makes it very likely that the new heatwave will be just the beginning of a long hot summer.

This heat will move up from north Africa, starting from June 1st.

It will continue to feed up over the Mediterranean, heating under sunny skies by day.

Temperatures in southern and central Italy are forecast to reach 37 to 40°C by late next week.

Latest ECMWF Extreme Forecast Index (EFI) for Maximum Temperatures into early June shows up clearly the unseasonably hot weather which is forecast to build across the Mediterranean next week: values of 0.8+ indicate very unusual or extreme weather likely.

Last week’s hottest locations in Spain were Andújar and Jaén with 42.3°C, Montoro with 40.9°C, Cordoba with 40.4°C and Linares with 40.2°C – which is around 8 to 10°C above the May average.

Also the next week many locations of southern Europe will record maximum temperatures well above 35°C and some spots could break all-time records for early June, having the potential to exceed 40°C (104°F).

Graphics provided by wxcharts.com