Frost in Mallorca, Saturday 20 April

Perhaps surprisingly, Escorca in Mallorca was one of the coldest places in Spain at 8 am on Saturday morning – the seventh coldest, to be precise.

According to the State Meteorological Agency (Aemet), the temperature was a frosty -1.0 degrees at the Son Torrella measuring station 842 metres above sea level, in a rather shady spot near Puig Major. (Meanwhile, the coldest place in Spain was Lleida on the mainland, at -2.5)

Temperatures rose 17 degrees

Later on, at 3 pm, temperatures at the Son Torrella measuring station had risen to more than 16 degrees.

Almost a week ago on April 14, temperatures were considerably higher, at 23 degrees in Son Torrella (and more than 28 degrees in Pollença on the same day).

February is usually a cold month but was unusually mild this year.

Coldest temperature recorded

The coldest ever temperature recorded at Son Torella was -9.4°C, on 13 February 2012. All this fascinating data can be consulted here

There is another measuring station at Lluc in the large, mountainous municipality of Escorca, and temperatures are generally a little higher there, although still several degrees lower than on the plains of Mallorca.

Frost is relatively infrequent in Mallorca and other than in the mountains, temperatures rarely drop below six degrees Celsius, even in mid-winter.