MADRID - October 2022 was the hottest month of October in Spain since records started in 1961, the government said after experts warned that unusually warm temperatures pointed to accelerating climate change.
The average temperature for the month was 18 degrees Celsius -- 3.6 degrees Celsius higher than the average temperature recorded in October between 1981 and 2020, the ministry for ecological transition said Monday.
Up until now the warmest October recorded in Spain was that of 2020 when the average temperature was 0.6 degrees above the average, and 2017 when its was 0.3 degrees above normal level, the statement added.
The unusually warm October follows a summer in Spain and much of Europe marked by repeated heatwaves which fuelled wildfires and worsened drought conditions.
The mild October kept outdoor terraces full across much of Spain while beaches were more crowded than usual for this month.
October 2022 was also especially dry in Spain, with 68 percent less rain that the normal level for the month, the ministry said.
This has been the fourth driest year in Spain since records started being kept.
Between January and October the country received an average of 355 litres of rainfall per square metre, 26 percent less than the normal level, the statement said.
Ruben del Campo, the spokesman for Spain's meteorological service Aemet, told AFP at the end of October that the unusually warm temperatures were a sign of the "notable acceleration" in climate change over the past decade.