July 2019 heatwave: heat and storms across much of Spain, 20–26 July 2019

20 July 2019 to 26 July 2019. Updated 26 October 2026.

AEMET records a heatwave from 20 July to 25 July 2019.

Over 7 days, 74 of Spain's 182 warning zones had an orange or red warning for heat and storms: 148 zone-days at orange or red, 3 of them red. The day with the most zones at orange or red was 23 July, with 52 zones.

23 July was the day with the most people in zones under an orange or red warning: 9.9 million people live there (INE municipal register, 2025).

RedOrangeYellowNo warningEach zone at the highest warning it had during the episode. Grey: no warning on those days.

True-colour satellite image of the Iberian Peninsula and the Balearic Islands on 23 July 2019 — Spain from space on 23 July 2019, the day with the most zones at orange or red. Image: NASA Worldview.

How it compares

It is number 23 of 119 episodes since June 2018 by zone-days at orange or red.
Among the 37 heat episodes, it is number 20.

Day by day

Day	Red	Orange	Yellow	Orange or red warnings for
Sat 20 July	—	11	47	heat
Sun 21 July	—	10	57	heat
Mon 22 July	—	30	77	heat, storms
Tue 23 July	3	49	58	storms, heat, wind
Wed 24 July	—	17	78	heat
Thu 25 July	—	11	67	heat
Fri 26 July	—	17	43	storms

Zones with a warning each day, at their highest level that day.

The zones

Zone	Province	Highest level	Warning days
Ribera del Ebro de Zaragoza	Zaragoza	red	7
Bizkaia interior	Bizkaia	red	5
Bizkaia litoral	Bizkaia	red	3
Bajo Aragón de Teruel	Teruel	orange	7
Cinco Villas de Zaragoza	Zaragoza	orange	7
Ribera del Ebro de La Rioja	La Rioja	orange	7
Ribera del Ebro de Navarra	Navarra	orange	7
Sur de Huesca	Huesca	orange	7
Depresión central de Lleida	Lleida	orange	6
Valle del Tajo	Toledo	orange	6
Ibérica zaragozana	Zaragoza	orange	7
Centro de Navarra	Navarra	orange	6
Pirineo de Lleida	Lleida	orange	6
Sur de Ávila	Ávila	orange	6
Sur, Vegas y Oeste	Madrid	orange	6
Tajo y Alagón	Cáceres	orange	5
Campiña cordobesa	Córdoba	orange	6
Morena y Condado	Jaén	orange	6
Valle del Guadalquivir de Jaén	Jaén	orange	6
La Siberia extremeña	Badajoz	orange	5
Norte de Burgos	Burgos	orange	5
Vegas del Guadiana	Badajoz	orange	5
Barros y Serena	Badajoz	orange	4
Meseta de Valladolid	Valladolid	orange	6
Sur de Salamanca	Salamanca	orange	6
Meseta de Zamora	Zamora	orange	5
Norte de Cáceres	Cáceres	orange	5
Valle del Guadiana	Ciudad Real	orange	5
Meseta de Salamanca	Salamanca	orange	4
Cordillera Cantábrica de León	León	orange	3
Cordillera Cantábrica de Palencia	Palencia	orange	3
Meseta de Palencia	Palencia	orange	3
Meseta de León	León	orange	2
Campiña sevillana	Sevilla	orange	6
Cazorla y Segura	Jaén	orange	6
Centro de Huesca	Huesca	orange	6
Ibérica de Soria	Soria	orange	6
Ibérica riojana	La Rioja	orange	6
Pirineo oscense	Huesca	orange	6
Ampurdán	Girona	orange	5
Cantabria del Ebro	Cantabria	orange	5
Condado de Treviño	Burgos	orange	5
Cordillera Cantábrica de Burgos	Burgos	orange	5
Cuenca del Genil	Granada	orange	5
Cuenca del Nervión	Araba/Álava	orange	5
Depresión central de Tarragona	Tarragona	orange	5
Gipuzkoa interior	Gipuzkoa	orange	5
Montes de Toledo	Toledo	orange	5
Montes del norte y Anchuras	Ciudad Real	orange	5
Pirineo navarro	Navarra	orange	5
Sierra de San Vicente	Toledo	orange	5
Valle de Arán	Lleida	orange	5
Vertiente cantábrica de Navarra	Navarra	orange	5
Villuercas y Montánchez	Cáceres	orange	5
Cordillera y Picos de Europa	Asturias	orange	4
Litoral oriental asturiano	Asturias	orange	4
Liébana	Cantabria	orange	4
Llanada alavesa	Araba/Álava	orange	4
Meseta de Ávila	Ávila	orange	4
Rioja alavesa	Araba/Álava	orange	4
Sistema Central de Ávila	Ávila	orange	4
Central y Valles Mineros	Asturias	orange	3
Centro y valle de Villaverde	Cantabria	orange	3
Gipuzkoa litoral	Gipuzkoa	orange	3
Litoral occidental asturiano	Asturias	orange	3
Suroccidental asturiana	Asturias	orange	3
Litoral cántabro	Cantabria	orange	2
Sistema Central de Salamanca	Salamanca	orange	2
Sur de Lugo	Lugo	orange	2
Interior norte de Castellón	Castelló/Castellón	orange	1
Interior sur de Castellón	Castelló/Castellón	orange	1
Montaña de Lugo	Lugo	orange	1
Montaña de Ourense	Ourense	orange	1
Sanabria	Zamora	orange	1

And 63 more zones with yellow warnings only.

What AEMET's stations measured

The most measured in the zones with an orange or red warning, on their warning days: 46.3 l/m² of rain in 24 h at Donostia / San Sebastián, Igeldo (Gipuzkoa litoral) on 26 July; a 105 km/h gust at Cabrales (Cordillera y Picos de Europa) on 22 July; a high of 42.4 °C at Andújar (Morena y Condado) on 21 July.

Zone	Most rain in 24 h	Strongest gust	Highest temperature
Gipuzkoa litoral	46.3 l/m² Donostia / San Sebastián, Igeldo · 26 July	66 km/h Mutriku · 23 July	40.1 °C Errenteria, Añarbe · 23 July
Bizkaia interior	45.0 l/m² Abadiño, Urkiola · 25 July	49 km/h Orozko, Ibarra · 23 July	40.5 °C Balmaseda · 23 July
Meseta de Salamanca	44.8 l/m² Pedraza de Alba · 23 July	71 km/h Barbadillo · 22 July	39.5 °C Vitigudino · 22 July
Cordillera Cantábrica de León	38.2 l/m² Quintana del Castillo, Villameca · 23 July	97 km/h Riaño · 22 July	36.1 °C Villablino · 22 July
Bizkaia litoral	35.6 l/m² Bilbao Aeropuerto · 25 July	79 km/h Matxitxako · 23 July	41.0 °C Forua · 23 July
Cordillera Cantábrica de Palencia	33.8 l/m² Velilla del Río Carrión, Camporredondo de Alba · 26 July	79 km/h Velilla del Río Carrión, Camporredondo de Alba · 22 July	34.4 °C Cervera de Pisuerga · 22 July
Montes de Toledo	33.6 l/m² San Pablo de los Montes · 23 July	66 km/h San Pablo de los Montes · 23 July	39.5 °C Navahermosa · 22 July
Ibérica riojana	33.0 l/m² Enciso · 26 July	99 km/h Enciso · 21 July	35.3 °C Enciso · 23 July
Meseta de León	31.4 l/m² Astorga · 23 July	80 km/h León, Virgen del Camino · 22 July	34.9 °C Lagunas de Somoza · 22 July
Pirineo oscense	30.8 l/m² Valle de Hecho, Hecho · 26 July	55 km/h Sopeira · 23 July	40.9 °C Torla - Ordesa · 24 July
Norte de Cáceres	27.8 l/m² Madrigal de la Vera · 22 July	67 km/h Madrigal de la Vera · 22 July	41.3 °C Madrigal de la Vera · 22 July
Gipuzkoa interior	27.6 l/m² Elgeta · 25 July	80 km/h Ordizia · 23 July	39.8 °C Elgoibar · 23 July
Vertiente cantábrica de Navarra	24.8 l/m² Articutza (automatica) · 26 July	45 km/h Bera · 23 July	39.3 °C Bera · 23 July
Cuenca del Nervión	23.8 l/m² Amurrio · 25 July	49 km/h Amurrio · 24 July	39.0 °C Amurrio · 23 July
Litoral cántabro	23.7 l/m² Santander · 26 July	52 km/h Santander Aeropuerto · 23 July	36.4 °C Castro Urdiales · 23 July
Cordillera y Picos de Europa	23.4 l/m² Amieva, Panizales · 25 July	105 km/h Cabrales · 22 July	33.5 °C Aller, Felechosa · 23 July
Centro de Huesca	22.4 l/m² Almudévar · 26 July	74 km/h Almudévar · 26 July	39.7 °C Barbastro · 23 July
Central y Valles Mineros	21.2 l/m² Oviedo · 25 July	35 km/h Oviedo · 25 July	29.3 °C Mieres, Baiña · 23 July
Meseta de Valladolid	20.6 l/m² Villalón de Campos · 22 July	104 km/h Villalón de Campos · 22 July	39.8 °C Sardón de Duero · 22 July
Cantabria del Ebro	20.3 l/m² Reinosa · 26 July	68 km/h Valderredible, Cubillo de Ebro · 23 July	37.3 °C Valderredible, Polientes · 22 July

And 54 more zones with an orange or red warning.

For each zone, the highest value its AEMET stations measured on the episode's warning days (the lowest, for the low temperature), with the station and the day. Rain from 07:00 to 07:00 UTC; gust: the day's strongest. It is what the zone's stations measured, not every town, and a measurement, like a warning, is not damage.

How AEMET's warnings unfolded

The red warning reached 3 zone-days, and AEMET always issued it ahead of time (median: 25 h). The first warning of any level for those same days had come a median 35 h earlier.

Zone	Day	First warning	Red issued	For · notice
Bizkaia interior	Tue 23	Sat 20 Jul, 23:50 orange	Mon 22 Jul, 11:18	12:00 · 25 h before
Bizkaia litoral	Tue 23	Sat 20 Jul, 23:50 orange	Mon 22 Jul, 11:18	12:00 · 25 h before
Ribera del Ebro de Zaragoza	Tue 23	Sat 20 Jul, 23:50 orange	08:57	12:00 · 3 h before

The full timeline: 196 changes at orange or red

Only the changes involving red are listed: there were 196 in all.

Mon 22 July

11:18 Bizkaia interior, Bizkaia litoral: Raises the heat warning to red: Tuesday 23, 12:00–17:00. Highs of 41 °C.

Tue 23 July

08:57 Ribera del Ebro de Zaragoza: Raises the heat warning to red: Tuesday 23, 12:00–20:00. Highs of 42 °C.
15:30 Bizkaia interior, Bizkaia litoral: Lowers the heat warning to orange: Tuesday 23, 16:00–20:00. Highs of 39 °C.

AEMET's issue times, in mainland Spain time (Canary Islands in island time). Notice is the time from issue to the first hour the warning covered; a warning issued “for the current hour” runs from the hour it is published.

What this says and what it doesn't

A warning is an AEMET forecast, not a measurement or a damage report: it says a threshold is expected to be exceeded in a zone. A warning is not damage; a zone is not a building.

A zone-day is one warning zone with a warning on one day. Ten zones at orange on the same day make ten zone-days. A day with several warnings in one zone counts once, at its highest level.

Each zone has its own thresholds, so an orange heat warning in Asturias doesn't mean the same temperature as in Córdoba. More in how warnings work.

To cite: “Climaviso, from AEMET warnings”.

Source: official AEMET warnings, collected by Climaviso since June 2018.

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