Spain weather maps turn volcanic red as Europe's 'hottest city' to bake in 40C heat

UK holidaymakers heading to 's hottest city for an early summer break are set to boil as a blazing 40C heatwave spreads across the country. Weather maps from WXCharts show Seville, which records annual of around 36C, shooting up to around 40C next week, with a great stretch of Spain turning dark red on Saturday, June 7. While the Iberian heatwave is set to spread across the peninsula, Spain will see the highest spike in temperatures, with Seville - known as "the frying pan of Spain" - and nearby Cordoba in the South both recording highs of between 38C and 40C.

Almost all of and Portugal will hit at least 30C from next Saturday, with regions around Madrid and Toledo in central Spain averaging 37C and Portugal's Algarve expected to see temperatures of 39C. The hottest weather is set to descend on the region from next weekend, but parts of Spain are already sweltering under temperatures in the high 30s, thanks to a late-May front of high pressure from northern Africa, driving temperatures up to 10C above their seasonal average in some areas.

The hot weather will continue through the weekend, with most of Spain and Portugal experiencing highs of between 33C and 40C by 6pm on Sunday, June 8.

While areas in southern Spain are forecast to see a huge hike of normal temperatures for June, which usually reach a maximum 30C, northern parts of the country including Bilbao and Gijon could hover between the high teens and around 24C.

The especially hot forecasts for late spring have already compelled Spain's equivalent of the Met Office, the Agencia Estatal de Meteorologia (AEMET), to issue high-temperature warnings for Seville and Cordoba, alongside Lleida, Tarragona, and Valle del Guadalquivir.

The forecaster has cautioned locals and holidaymakers about a "powerful anticyclone" moving over from the Azores, bringing hot air from Africa over Andalusia and the Iberian Peninsula.

It will come two years after Spain recorded its worst wildlife season on record, also marking the second-worst wildfire season in the history of the European Union.

Temperatures rose to over 40C in parts of the country in May 2022, as AEMET warned of a heatwave of "extraordinary intensity". The mercury at Seville airport hit an unprecedented 41C, also due to hot air moving over from Africa.