July 2021 heatwave: heat across much of Spain, 22–26 July 2021

22 July 2021 to 26 July 2021. Updated 26 October 2026.

AEMET records a heatwave from 21 July to 23 July 2021.

Over 5 days, 49 of Spain's 182 warning zones had an orange or red warning for heat: 69 zone-days at orange or red, 2 of them red. The day with the most zones at orange or red was 23 July, with 22 zones.

22 July was the day with the most people in zones under an orange or red warning: 5.4 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 2021 — Spain from space on 23 July 2021, the day with the most zones at orange or red. Image: NASA Worldview.

How it compares

It is number 52 of 119 episodes since June 2018 by zone-days at orange or red.
Among the 37 heat episodes, it is number 30.

Day by day

Day	Red	Orange	Yellow	Orange or red warnings for
Thu 22 July	—	17	84	heat
Fri 23 July	2	20	50	heat
Sat 24 July	—	15	18	heat
Sun 25 July	—	2	8	rain, storms
Mon 26 July	—	13	21	rain, storms

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

The zones

Zone	Province	Highest level	Warning days
Bajo Aragón de Teruel	Teruel	red	3
Ribera del Ebro de Zaragoza	Zaragoza	red	2
Vega del Segura	Murcia	orange	5
Noroeste de Murcia	Murcia	orange	4
Interior de Mallorca	Mallorca	orange	3
Interior sur de Valencia	València/Valencia	orange	4
Valle del Guadalentín, Lorca y Águilas	Murcia	orange	4
Altiplano de Murcia	Murcia	orange	3
Cuenca del Genil	Granada	orange	3
Litoral sur de Valencia	València/Valencia	orange	3
Norte y nordeste de Mallorca	Mallorca	orange	3
Pirineo de Lleida	Lleida	orange	3
Valle del Almanzora y Los Vélez	Almería	orange	3
Cinco Villas de Zaragoza	Zaragoza	orange	2
Ribera del Ebro de La Rioja	La Rioja	orange	2
Ribera del Ebro de Navarra	Navarra	orange	2
Sur de Huesca	Huesca	orange	2
Hellín y Almansa	Albacete	orange	5
Alcaraz y Segura	Albacete	orange	4
Gúdar y Maestrazgo	Teruel	orange	4
Ibiza y Formentera	Ibiza y Formentera	orange	4
Interior norte de Valencia	València/Valencia	orange	4
La Mancha albaceteña	Albacete	orange	4
Depresión central de Lleida	Lleida	orange	3
Guadix y Baza	Granada	orange	3
Litoral norte de Alicante	Alacant/Alicante	orange	3
Litoral sur de Alicante	Alacant/Alicante	orange	3
Menorca	Menorca	orange	3
Pirineo de Girona	Girona	orange	3
Prelitoral de Girona	Girona	orange	3
Prepirineo de Barcelona	Barcelona	orange	3
Serranía de Cuenca	Cuenca	orange	3
Sur de Mallorca	Mallorca	orange	3
Ampurdán	Girona	orange	2
Axarquía	Málaga	orange	2
Campiña cordobesa	Córdoba	orange	2
Campo de Cartagena y Mazarrón	Murcia	orange	2
Cazorla y Segura	Jaén	orange	2
Centro de Huesca	Huesca	orange	2
Centro de Navarra	Navarra	orange	2
Ibérica zaragozana	Zaragoza	orange	2
Interior de Alicante	Alacant/Alicante	orange	2
Interior norte de Castellón	Castelló/Castellón	orange	2
Litoral norte de Castellón	Castelló/Castellón	orange	2
Sol y Guadalhorce	Málaga	orange	2
Sur, Vegas y Oeste	Madrid	orange	2
Valle del Guadalquivir de Jaén	Jaén	orange	2
Levante mallorquín	Mallorca	orange	1
Valle del Tajo	Toledo	orange	1

And 74 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 42.9 °C at Málaga, Centro Meteorológico (Sol y Guadalhorce) on 24 July.

Zone	Highest temperature
Sol y Guadalhorce	42.9 °C Málaga, Centro Meteorológico · 24 July
Campiña cordobesa	42.2 °C La Rambla · 22 July
Cuenca del Genil	42.1 °C Granada-Cartuja · 23 July
Interior sur de Valencia	42.1 °C Ontinyent · 24 July
Noroeste de Murcia	42.0 °C Caravaca de la Cruz · 24 July
Valle del Almanzora y Los Vélez	42.0 °C Albox · 24 July
Bajo Aragón de Teruel	41.8 °C Hijar · 23 July
Litoral norte de Alicante	41.6 °C Pego · 23 July
Ribera del Ebro de Zaragoza	41.6 °C Quinto · 22 July
Guadix y Baza	41.5 °C Baza · 23 July
Valle del Guadalentín, Lorca y Águilas	41.5 °C Lorca · 24 July
Interior de Mallorca	41.4 °C Petra · 24 July
Vega del Segura	41.4 °C Archena · 24 July
Altiplano de Murcia	41.3 °C Jumilla · 24 July
Cazorla y Segura	41.0 °C Cazorla · 22 July
Valle del Tajo	40.8 °C Talavera de la Reina · 22 July
Ibérica zaragozana	40.7 °C La Almunia de Doña Godina · 22 July
Interior de Alicante	40.5 °C Alcoi/alcoy · 24 July
La Mancha albaceteña	40.5 °C Villarrobledo · 22 July
Ampurdán	40.2 °C Figueres · 23 July

And 28 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 2 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 35 h earlier.

Zone	Day	First warning	Red issued	For · notice
Bajo Aragón de Teruel	Fri 23	Tue 20 Jul, 23:50 orange	Thu 22 Jul, 10:28	13:00 · 27 h before
Ribera del Ebro de Zaragoza	Fri 23	Tue 20 Jul, 23:50 orange	Thu 22 Jul, 10:28	13:00 · 27 h before

The full timeline: 105 changes at orange or red

Mon 19 July

23:50 Ribera del Ebro de La Rioja: Issues a orange heat warning: Thursday 22, 14:00–21:00. Highs of 40 °C.
23:50 Ribera del Ebro de Zaragoza: Issues a orange heat warning: Thursday 22, 13:00–20:00. Highs of 40 °C.

Tue 20 July

11:37 Bajo Aragón de Teruel, Cinco Villas de Zaragoza, Ibérica zaragozana: Raises the heat warning to orange: Thursday 22, 13:00–20:00. Highs of 40 °C.
11:37 Campiña cordobesa, Valle del Guadalquivir de Jaén: Raises the heat warning to orange: Thursday 22, 14:00–21:00. Highs of 40 °C.
11:37 Interior de Mallorca: Raises the heat warning to orange: Thursday 22, 12:00–19:00. Highs of 39 °C.
11:37 Ribera del Ebro de Navarra: Raises the heat warning to orange: Thursday 22, 13:00–21:00. Highs of 40 °C.
23:01 Centro de Navarra: Raises the heat warning to orange: Thursday 22, 13:00–21:00. Highs of 39 °C.
23:01 Depresión central de Lleida, Sur de Huesca: Raises the heat warning to orange: Thursday 22, 13:00–20:00. Highs of 39 °C.
23:01 Pirineo de Lleida: Raises the heat warning to orange: Thursday 22, 13:00–20:00. Highs of 37 °C.
23:01 Sur, Vegas y Oeste: Raises the heat warning to orange: Thursday 22, 14:00–21:00. Highs of 39 °C.
23:01 Valle del Tajo: Raises the heat warning to orange: Thursday 22, 14:00–21:00. Highs of 40 °C.
23:50 Ampurdán: Issues a orange heat warning: Friday 23, 12:00–19:00. Highs of 38 °C.
23:50 Bajo Aragón de Teruel, Cinco Villas de Zaragoza, Interior norte de Valencia, Interior sur de Valencia, Litoral sur de Valencia, Ribera del Ebro de Zaragoza: Issues a orange heat warning: Friday 23, 13:00–20:00. Highs of 40 °C.
23:50 Cuenca del Genil, Guadix y Baza: Issues a orange heat warning: Friday 23, 14:00–21:00. Highs of 40 °C.
23:50 Interior de Mallorca: Issues a orange heat warning: Friday 23, 12:00–20:00. Highs of 39 °C.
23:50 La Mancha albaceteña: Issues a orange heat warning: Friday 23, 14:00–21:00. Highs of 39 °C.
23:50 Ribera del Ebro de Navarra: Issues a orange heat warning: Friday 23, 13:00–21:00. Highs of 39 °C.
23:50 Serranía de Cuenca: Issues a orange heat warning: Friday 23, 14:00–21:00. Highs of 37 °C.

Wed 21 July

11:22 Cuenca del Genil: Raises the heat warning to orange: Thursday 22, 14:00–21:00. Highs of 40 °C.
11:31 Centro de Huesca, Sur de Huesca: Raises the heat warning to orange: Friday 23, 13:00–20:00. Highs of 40 °C.
11:31 Noroeste de Murcia, Vega del Segura: Raises the heat warning to orange: Friday 23, 14:00–21:00. Highs of 40 °C.
22:31 Cazorla y Segura: Raises the heat warning to orange: Thursday 22, 14:00–21:00. Highs of 40 °C.
23:02 Pirineo de Lleida: Raises the heat warning to orange: Friday 23, 13:00–20:00. Highs of 37 °C.
23:50 Interior de Mallorca, Norte y nordeste de Mallorca: Issues a orange heat warning: Saturday 24, 12:00–19:00. Highs of 40 °C.
23:50 Interior sur de Valencia: Issues a orange heat warning: Saturday 24, 13:00–20:00. Highs of 40 °C.
23:50 Noroeste de Murcia, Valle del Almanzora y Los Vélez, Valle del Guadalentín, Lorca y Águilas, Vega del Segura: Issues a orange heat warning: Saturday 24, 14:00–21:00. Highs of 42 °C.
23:50 Sol y Guadalhorce: Issues a orange heat warning: Saturday 24, 14:00–21:00. Highs of 40 °C.

Thu 22 July

10:24 Ribera del Ebro de La Rioja: Raises the heat warning to orange: Friday 23, 14:00–21:00. Highs of 39 °C.
10:28 Ampurdán: Extends the orange heat warning: now until 21:00 on Friday 23. Highs of 39 °C.
10:28 Bajo Aragón de Teruel, Ribera del Ebro de Zaragoza: Raises the heat warning to red: Friday 23, 13:00–21:00. Highs of 42 °C.
10:28 Centro de Huesca, Cinco Villas de Zaragoza, Sur de Huesca: Extends the orange heat warning: now until 21:00 on Friday 23. Highs of 40 °C.
10:28 Pirineo de Lleida: Extends the orange heat warning: now until 21:00 on Friday 23. Highs of 37 °C.
10:51 Interior norte de Valencia: Extends the orange heat warning: now until 21:00 on Friday 23. Highs of 40 °C.
10:51 Interior sur de Valencia, Litoral sur de Valencia: Extends the orange heat warning: now until 21:00 on Friday 23. Highs of 41 °C.
11:15 Norte y nordeste de Mallorca: Raises the heat warning to orange: Friday 23, 12:00–20:00. Highs of 39 °C.
11:30 Altiplano de Murcia: Raises the heat warning to orange: Saturday 24, 14:00–21:00. Highs of 40 °C.
21:41 Alcaraz y Segura: Raises the heat warning to orange: Friday 23, 14:00–21:00. Highs of 39 °C.
23:04 Hellín y Almansa: Raises the heat warning to orange: Saturday 24, 14:00–21:00. Highs of 39 °C.

Fri 23 July

11:04 Ibiza y Formentera, Menorca: Raises the heat warning to orange: Saturday 24, 12:00–19:00. Highs of 37 °C.
11:04 Levante mallorquín: Raises the heat warning to orange: Saturday 24, 12:00–19:00. Highs of 40 °C.
11:23 Axarquía: Raises the heat warning to orange: Saturday 24, 14:00–21:00. Highs of 39 °C.
13:57 Prelitoral de Girona: Raises the heat warning to orange: Friday 23, 14:00–21:00. Highs of 39 °C.
22:35 Altiplano de Murcia: Brings the orange heat warning forward: now from 13:00 on Saturday 24. Highs of 40 °C.
22:35 Axarquía: Brings the orange heat warning forward: now from 13:00 on Saturday 24. Highs of 39 °C.
22:35 Noroeste de Murcia, Valle del Almanzora y Los Vélez, Vega del Segura: Brings the orange heat warning forward: now from 13:00 on Saturday 24. Highs of 42 °C.
22:35 Sol y Guadalhorce: Brings the orange heat warning forward: now from 12:00 on Saturday 24. Highs of 41 °C.
22:35 Valle del Guadalentín, Lorca y Águilas: Brings the orange heat warning forward: now from 13:00 on Saturday 24. Highs of 41 °C.

Sat 24 July

14:21 Sur de Mallorca: Raises the heat warning to orange: Saturday 24, 15:00–19:00. Highs of 40 °C.

Sun 25 July

10:34 Gúdar y Maestrazgo: Raises the rain warning to orange: Monday 26, 12:00–21:00. Up to 30 mm in 1 h.
10:34 Gúdar y Maestrazgo: Raises the storms warning to orange: Monday 26, 12:00–21:00. Hail possible.
10:34 Pirineo de Girona, Prepirineo de Barcelona: Raises the rain warning to orange: Monday 26, 12:00–23:00. Up to 40 mm in 1 h.
10:34 Pirineo de Girona, Prepirineo de Barcelona: Raises the storms warning to orange: Monday 26, 12:00–23:00. Hail possible.
10:35 Litoral norte de Alicante, Litoral sur de Valencia: Raises the rain warning to orange: Monday 26, 09:00–18:00. Up to 40 mm in 1 h.
10:35 Litoral norte de Alicante, Litoral sur de Valencia: Issues a orange storms warning: Monday 26, 09:00–18:00. Hail possible.
11:18 Altiplano de Murcia, Noroeste de Murcia, Valle del Guadalentín, Lorca y Águilas, Vega del Segura: Raises the rain warning to orange: Monday 26, 10:00–20:00. Up to 30 mm in 1 h.
11:18 Altiplano de Murcia, Noroeste de Murcia, Valle del Guadalentín, Lorca y Águilas, Vega del Segura: Raises the storms warning to orange: Monday 26, 10:00–20:00.
19:21 Interior norte de Castellón: Raises the rain warning to orange: Sunday 25, 20:00–21:00. Up to 40 mm in 1 h.
19:21 Interior norte de Castellón: Raises the storms warning to orange: Sunday 25, 20:00–21:00. Tormenta en movimiento hacia el SE.
22:43 Valle del Almanzora y Los Vélez: Raises the rain warning to orange: Monday 26, 10:00–20:00. Up to 30 mm in 1 h.
22:43 Valle del Almanzora y Los Vélez: Raises the storms warning to orange: Monday 26, 10:00–20:00.

Mon 26 July

08:07 Campo de Cartagena y Mazarrón: Raises the rain warning to orange: Monday 26, 10:00–20:00. Up to 40 mm in 1 h.
08:07 Campo de Cartagena y Mazarrón: Raises the storms warning to orange: Monday 26, 10:00–20:00. Las tormentas más intensas se esperan en el interior.
08:36 Interior de Alicante, Litoral sur de Alicante: Raises the rain warning to orange: Monday 26, 12:00–15:00. Up to 40 mm in 1 h.
08:36 Interior de Alicante, Litoral sur de Alicante: Raises the storms warning to orange: Monday 26, 12:00–15:00. Hail possible.
16:54 Gúdar y Maestrazgo: Pushes the orange rain warning back: now from 19:00 on Monday 26. Up to 30 mm in 1 h.
16:54 Gúdar y Maestrazgo: Pushes the orange storms warning back: now from 19:00 on Monday 26. Hail possible.
16:54 Pirineo de Girona, Prepirineo de Barcelona: Pushes the orange rain warning back: now from 20:00 on Monday 26. Up to 40 mm in 1 h.
16:54 Pirineo de Girona, Prepirineo de Barcelona: Pushes the orange storms warning back: now from 20:00 on Monday 26. Hail possible.

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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