Author: Javier Martín Vide, Catedrático de Geografía Física, Universitat de Barcelona

Heatwaves are Europe’s biggest climate threat. These episodes of extreme heat compound rising average air temperatures across the world, all of which is the direct result of greenhouse gas emissions. There have always been heatwaves – in Europe and throughout most of the planet – but in the 21st century they have become more frequent […]

El Niño is a recurring climate event with impacts across the globe. It has three phases: one cold (known as La Niña), one neutral, and one warm (El Niño). In 2026, spring in the northern hemisphere took place in a neutral phase, which followed a relatively mild La Niña. Short-term forecast models indicate that by […]

El Niño is a recurring climate event with impacts across the globe. It has three phases: one cold (known as La Niña), one neutral, and one warm (El Niño). In 2026, spring in the northern hemisphere took place in a neutral phase, which followed a relatively mild La Niña. Short-term forecast models indicate that by […]

The first heatwave of the summer hit Spain, Portugal, France, Italy and Germany early in the year, breaking June temperature records in many areas. It was Western Europe’s warmest June since records began, and Spain’s warmest since it began recording temperature anomalies in 1961. Temperatures soared past 40ºC in the last week of the month […]

2025’s rainy spring has brought a swift end to the droughts plaguing several Spanish regions, restoring ecosystems to parched fields, reviving withered trees and shrubs, and bringing back a lush, green landscape not seen for a long time. It has also placed the country’s reservoir levels much higher the averages of the last decade. At […]