In Pics | Spain sees hottest year on record in 2022

Spain concluded its hottest year on record, the nation’s weather service said on January 2. The year 2022 experienced the hottest year since records began for Spain. The data indicated that 2022 finished with average daily temperatures above 15 degrees Celsius (59 degrees Fahrenheit) for the first time since records started in 1961. Even with recent rainfalls, Spain is also poised to record one of its driest years, said the weather service.

While global warming stokes temperatures around the world, Spain in 2022 experienced the hottest year since records began, the country's national weather service said January 1. Credit: AFP Photo

Spain recorded an average temperature for the year of nearly 15.5 degrees Celsius (59.9 Fahrenheit), the highest since records began in 1916, national weather office Aemet said in a tweet. Credit: AFP Photo

Spain saw temperatures surge repeatedly in successive heat waves from May and into October, with the mercury soaring above 40 degrees Celsius across large swathes of the country. Credit: Reuters Photo

Except for March and April, the remaining months of 2022 were

Spain also recorded one of its driest years in 2022, with only 2005 and 2017 having received less precipitation. Credit: AFP Photo

The scorching temperatures this summer caused the deaths of 4,744 people in Spain, according to an estimate from a public health institute based on the number of excess deaths recorded during the period. Credit: AFP Photo

The exceptionally dry and hot year favoured explosive wildfires that ravaged over 300,000 hectares (740,000 acres) of land in Spain, according to the European Union's EFFIS satellite monitoring service, the biggest amount in over two decades. Credit: AFP Photo