The Costa del Sol has recorded the warmest winter in history

It is officially the warmest winter since the current official records of the State Meteorological Agency (Aemet) were established in 1961. With an average temperature of 12.5 degrees since December 2023, all the Malaga regions without exception have suffered an “extremely warm” winter period.

Director of Aemet in Malaga, Jesús Riesco, said that the figure represents 2.3 degrees more than the historical average for the period. “It is the warmest winter since we have had data. And as for rainfall during this period, the average is 123 litres per square metre. So we can also say that we have experienced a very dry winter period, especially along the coast”, he said.

Temperatures could rise 6 degrees

Riesco added that, if we look at all the winters since 1991, the coast has received only half the rainfall that would normally be expected. These figures confirm Aemet’s analysis, which forecasts that the average temperature in Andalucia could rise by up to six degrees between now and the end of this century.

In the recorded data so far for 2024, January was also the warmest month in history in the province of Malaga with over 3 degrees more than the historical average. Until 2024, the record for January was set in 2016, when an average of 11.5 degrees was already of great concern.

Aemet experts predict that the weather for spring 2024 is likely to continue the same way and they do not expect a change in the drought that the province has been suffering from for the last three years.