THE hottest, wettest year in Valencia’s history is being followed by one of the warmest Januaries on record.
According to information published by AEMET, the national meteorological agency, 2022 was the warmest in history in the Valencia region, with December temperatures above anything previously recorded for that month, more akin to those of spring or mid-October. In the graph below the average daily temperatures of 2022, in black, are plotted along with the average temperatures for the period of 1981 to 2010, in green. Apart from some cooler weather in March and April, 2022 can clearly be seen to be well above these average temperatures.
The table shows the average monthly, seasonal and annual temperatures for the Valencia region in numbers, both for 2022 and the normal temperature for that period. The “anomalía”´ column shows the difference between the two with the large majority being considerably above average.
On the graph below, annual temperature differences have been plotted against the average temperatures in the region between 1981 and 2010. The red line at the end clearly shows that 2022 was more than 1.5ºC above average, but not only that, since 2014 temperatures have been going consistently in that direction.
According to José Ángel Núñez, head of climatology at @AEMET_CValencia, “these exceptionally high temperatures are a consequence of climate change.”
Extreme rainfall
Despite the autumn being drier than average, sporadic periods of heavy rainfall, especially in the spring and autumn, have made 2022 the wettest year since records began. The spring was also the wettest recorded since 1950, as shown on the graph below.
Hot Christmas
AEMET also reported that the holiday season (24 December to 6 January) 2022-2023 has been the third hottest on record, only eclipsed by last year and Christmas 1995-1996. At the other extreme, the Christmas and New Year period of 1970-1971 was extremely cold as was the festive season 2020-2021.
The exceptionally high temperatures are not only being seen here in Spain, but also across Europe where unseasonably high temperatures have been recorded.
On New Year’s Eve, AEMET tweeted that 23.8ºC was the highest temperature recorded since at least 1864.
The Valencia Report 