Weather

Now that we are in mid-February and winter looks like it might well be on its way (it's above 20 degrees Celsius), life has started to run into the streets again. Just wait a couple of months and it'll let go! Men in Seville - and more and more women too - so love to be in the street. Warmth-loving Sevillians surely hope summer has dig its heels in.

Photos taken on 14 February 2013

For many, the reason they come to Spain is because of the weather. Northern Europeans crowd the beaches of Spain with supposedly guaranteed sun all day, every day. But it isn't as simple as that. It's a common myth about Spain that the weather is always good. It is true that in the summer it will usually be sunny, especially in the south. Then again, the humidity makes the winters super bone-chilling cold here, in the households without proper heating nearly unbearable to deal with. However, it's worth noting that July and August can be too hot in so many cities.

Andalusia is a Mediterranean region. In broad terms, it's characterised above all by a pronounced summer drought, but within this classification marked differences exist. The climate of Andalusia may be classified thus: coastal oceanic, subtropical, sub-desert, semi-continental, continental and mountain climate.

So, Andalusia is where there the hottest and driest summers are in Spain, but contrary to what many people think, as a whole, the region enjoys above average yearly rainfall in the context of the whole country. As the matter of fact, many of its provinces receive more than 1000 mm of rain a year, double that of Madrid. And, much of Andalusia enjoys in excess of 300 days of sun a year.

Among the provincial capitals, Almeria and Seville, have the highest average temperatures in Spain with 18,6ºC and 18,7ºC, respectively. In Andalusia, Granada is the coolest at an average of 15,1ºC. The average annual temperature of Andalusia as a whole is said to be above 16ºC. The coldest month is January, while the hottest is August.

The highest temperature recorded in Spain is 47,4ºC in Seville. See?! There are a number of other figures around 47ºC, at Écija, also known as the „frying pan of Andalusia“, in the province of Seville. Weathermen suspect that temperatures of 50ºC have been reached at points in the Guadalquivir basin. The Spanish version of the Guinness Book of Records give the absolute record in Spain as the 51ºC recorded in Seville. This, however, is not accepted by experts as it was made in 1876 using suspect equipment.