Heat in Canarias, Extremadura and elsewhere, 17–18 July 2021

17 July 2021 to 18 July 2021. Updated 26 October 2026.

Over 2 days, 17 of Spain's 182 warning zones had an orange or red warning for heat: 23 zone-days at orange or red, 0 of them red. The day with the most zones at orange or red was 18 July, with 13 zones.

18 July was the day with the most people in zones under an orange or red warning: 4.9 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 18 July 2021 — Spain from space on 18 July 2021, the day with the most zones at orange or red. Image: NASA Worldview.

How it compares

It is number 111 of 119 episodes since June 2018 by zone-days at orange or red.
Among the 37 heat episodes, it is number 37.

Day by day

Day	Red	Orange	Yellow	Orange or red warnings for
Sat 17 July	—	10	48	heat
Sun 18 July	—	13	51	heat

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

The zones

Zone	Province	Highest level	Warning days
Campiña cordobesa	Córdoba	orange	2
Este, sur y oeste de Gran Canaria	Gran Canaria	orange	2
Norte de Cáceres	Cáceres	orange	2
Tajo y Alagón	Cáceres	orange	2
Valle del Tajo	Toledo	orange	2
Vegas del Guadiana	Badajoz	orange	2
Campiña sevillana	Sevilla	orange	2
Cumbres de Gran Canaria	Gran Canaria	orange	2
Cumbres de La Palma	La Palma	orange	2
Este, sur y oeste de Tenerife	Tenerife	orange	2
Fuerteventura	Fuerteventura	orange	2
Lanzarote	Lanzarote	orange	2
Sur de Salamanca	Salamanca	orange	2
Sur de Ávila	Ávila	orange	2
Área metropolitana de Tenerife	Tenerife	orange	2
Cuenca del Genil	Granada	orange	1
Guadix y Baza	Granada	orange	1

And 57 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: a high of 42.4 °C at Talavera de la Reina (Valle del Tajo) on 17 July.

Zone	Highest temperature
Valle del Tajo	42.4 °C Talavera de la Reina · 17 July
Este, sur y oeste de Gran Canaria	42.0 °C Agüimes · 18 July
Este, sur y oeste de Tenerife	41.8 °C Tenerife Sur Aeropuerto · 18 July
Tajo y Alagón	40.9 °C Navalmoral de la Mata · 17 July
Sur de Ávila	40.8 °C Candeleda · 17 July
Campiña cordobesa	40.6 °C Montoro · 17 July
Cuenca del Genil	40.2 °C Granada Aeropuerto · 17 July
Norte de Cáceres	40.1 °C Madrigal de la Vera · 17 July
Campiña sevillana	39.9 °C Écija · 17 July
Guadix y Baza	39.7 °C Baza · 17 July
Vegas del Guadiana	39.7 °C Badajoz · 17 July
Fuerteventura	37.9 °C Tuineje,puerto Gran Tarajal · 18 July
Área metropolitana de Tenerife	37.9 °C San Cristóbal de la Laguna,llano de los Loros · 17 July
Cumbres de La Palma	37.1 °C El Paso · 18 July
Sur de Salamanca *	36.3 °C Hervás · 17 July
Lanzarote	36.1 °C Lanzarote Aeropuerto · 18 July
Cumbres de Gran Canaria	35.8 °C Tejeda · 17 July

* Zone with no AEMET station: the value is from the nearest one, outside the zone.

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 orange warning reached 23 zone-days, and AEMET always issued it ahead of time (median: 27 h). The first warning of any level for those same days had come a median 34 h earlier.

Zone	Day	First warning	Orange issued	For · notice
Tajo y Alagón	Sat 17	Wed 14 Jul, 23:50 yellow	Thu 15 Jul, 23:00	14:00 · 39 h before
Valle del Tajo	Sat 17	Wed 14 Jul, 23:50 yellow	Thu 15 Jul, 23:00	14:00 · 39 h before
Vegas del Guadiana	Sat 17	Wed 14 Jul, 23:50 yellow	Thu 15 Jul, 23:00	14:00 · 39 h before
Sur de Ávila	Sat 17	Wed 14 Jul, 23:50 yellow	Fri 16 Jul, 10:12	14:00 · 28 h before
Campiña cordobesa	Sat 17	Wed 14 Jul, 23:50 yellow	Fri 16 Jul, 11:02	14:00 · 27 h before
Este, sur y oeste de Gran Canaria	Sat 17	Wed 14 Jul, 23:50 yellow	Fri 16 Jul, 11:05	11:00 · 24 h before
Cuenca del Genil	Sat 17	Wed 14 Jul, 23:50 yellow	Fri 16 Jul, 22:32	14:00 · 15 h before
Guadix y Baza	Sat 17	Thu 15 Jul, 11:31 yellow	Fri 16 Jul, 22:32	14:00 · 15 h before
Sur de Salamanca	Sat 17	Wed 14 Jul, 23:50 yellow	08:35	14:00 · 5 h before
Norte de Cáceres	Sat 17	Wed 14 Jul, 23:50 yellow	08:36	14:00 · 5 h before
Este, sur y oeste de Gran Canaria	Sun 18	Fri 16 Jul, 00:57 orange	Fri 16 Jul, 00:57	11:00 · 58 h before
Campiña cordobesa	Sun 18	Thu 15 Jul, 23:50 yellow	Fri 16 Jul, 11:32	14:00 · 50 h before
Fuerteventura	Sun 18	Fri 16 Jul, 00:57 yellow	Fri 16 Jul, 11:32	11:00 · 47 h before
Lanzarote	Sun 18	Fri 16 Jul, 00:57 yellow	Fri 16 Jul, 11:32	11:00 · 47 h before
Tajo y Alagón	Sun 18	Thu 15 Jul, 23:50 yellow	Fri 16 Jul, 11:32	14:00 · 50 h before

And 8 more zone-days.

The full timeline: 23 changes at orange or red

Thu 15 July

23:00 Tajo y Alagón, Valle del Tajo, Vegas del Guadiana: Raises the heat warning to orange: Saturday 17, 14:00–21:00. Highs of 40 °C.

Fri 16 July

00:57 Este, sur y oeste de Gran Canaria: Issues a orange heat warning: Sunday 18, 11:00–21:00. Highs of 38 °C.
10:12 Sur de Ávila: Raises the heat warning to orange: Saturday 17, 14:00–21:00. Highs of 39 °C.
11:02 Campiña cordobesa: Raises the heat warning to orange: Saturday 17, 14:00–21:00. Highs of 40 °C.
11:05 Este, sur y oeste de Gran Canaria: Raises the heat warning to orange: Saturday 17, 11:00–20:00. Highs of 38 °C.
11:32 Campiña cordobesa, Tajo y Alagón, Valle del Tajo, Vegas del Guadiana: Raises the heat warning to orange: Sunday 18, 14:00–21:00. Highs of 40 °C.
11:32 Fuerteventura: Raises the heat warning to orange: Sunday 18, 11:00–21:00. Highs of 37 °C.
11:32 Lanzarote: Raises the heat warning to orange: Sunday 18, 11:00–19:00. Highs of 37 °C.
22:32 Cuenca del Genil, Guadix y Baza: Raises the heat warning to orange: Saturday 17, 14:00–21:00. Highs of 40 °C.

Sat 17 July

08:35 Sur de Salamanca: Raises the heat warning to orange: Saturday 17, 14:00–21:00. Highs of 39 °C.
08:36 Norte de Cáceres: Raises the heat warning to orange: Saturday 17, 14:00–21:00. Highs of 39 °C.
09:12 Cumbres de Gran Canaria: Raises the heat warning to orange: Sunday 18, 11:00–21:00. Highs of 37 °C.
11:25 Campiña sevillana: Raises the heat warning to orange: Sunday 18, 14:00–21:00. Highs of 40 °C.
21:41 Cumbres de La Palma, Este, sur y oeste de Tenerife: Raises the heat warning to orange: Sunday 18, 11:00–21:00. Highs of 37 °C.
21:41 Área metropolitana de Tenerife: Raises the heat warning to orange: Sunday 18, 11:00–20:00. Highs of 38 °C.
21:46 Norte de Cáceres: Raises the heat warning to orange: Sunday 18, 14:00–21:00. 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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