Published 02 September 2026 | Nature & Environment

TL;DR: Aemet says the summer of 2026 was provisionally the hottest on record in mainland Spain, while Almeria continues to follow the wider trend of increasingly warm summers.

Almeria summers keep getting warmer

Summer weather can be difficult to judge from memory. One year may feel hotter because of a few particularly intense days, while a short spell of cooler weather can change how the whole season is remembered. For a clearer picture, long-term measurements provide a more reliable guide.

That is the basis of a recent historical review by the Spanish State Meteorological Agency, Aemet. Its data shows that summers in Almeria, in line with the rest of Spain, have been becoming warmer since records began.

The agency’s provisional figures place the meteorological summer of 2026 at the top of the national record. The season, defined as the period from 1 June to 31 August, had an average temperature 2.5 degrees above the 1991-2020 reference period across mainland Spain.

Three record-breaking summers

The result puts 2026 ahead of the previous record-holder, 2025. Last year’s summer recorded an average temperature 2.2 degrees above the reference period. The summer of 2022 ranks third, with an anomaly of 2.1 degrees.

These figures describe the average conditions across mainland Spain rather than providing a separate ranking for Almeria. However, Aemet’s wider historical series identifies the same general direction in the province: summers have become progressively warmer over the years for which records are available.

The difference between individual years can be hard to assess without this longer view. A single heatwave or a cooler spell does not necessarily define the season as a whole. The national averages used by Aemet bring together the full three-month period and compare it with a fixed recent climate reference.

Heat persisted from May

Aemet reports that temperatures remained clearly above normal from the middle of May onwards. There were some temporary breaks: short cooler periods at the beginning of June and towards the end of July, followed by a somewhat longer interruption late in August.

Those pauses did not change the overall outcome. Across the complete meteorological summer, the average remained well above the 1991-2020 level, producing the largest recorded summer anomaly in mainland Spain.

The agency also warned that typical midsummer heat could return strongly at the beginning of September. That forecast signal came as the official summer period had ended, but it underlined that the change from August to September would not necessarily bring an immediate end to hot conditions.

2026 is leading overall

The record is not limited to the summer months. When temperatures from January through August are combined, 2026 is also provisionally shaping up to be the warmest year in the full historical series for Spain.

According to Aemet, it is already ahead by a wide margin of 2024, which previously held the top position for that January-to-August period. The agency adds that the five warmest January-to-August periods on record are the five most recent ones.

This wider comparison places the summer result within a broader pattern rather than treating it as an isolated seasonal event. The figures cover the national picture, while local conditions in Almeria may vary from one area and period to another. Even so, the direction identified by Aemet is clear: the warmest years and summers are increasingly concentrated in the most recent part of the record.

Using the data locally

For people living in or visiting Almeria, the figures offer useful context for a season that may have felt unusually persistent or intense. They also show why comparisons based only on personal recollection can be misleading.

Aemet’s assessment remains provisional, and the headline temperature figures refer to mainland Spain as a whole. The available information does not provide a separate average for Almeria or a local record ranking. What it does establish is that the province is part of the national pattern of warmer summers, while 2026 has set a new provisional benchmark for the mainland’s meteorological summer.

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