The numbers are part of the April 2024 Climatological Bulletin, released by the Portuguese Institute of the Sea and Atmosphere (IPMA), according to which at the end of the month around 8% of the territory was in mild meteorological drought.

At the end of March, no area of the continent was in drought, with the mild drought class emerging at the end of April in the municipalities of Mértola and Vila Real de Santo António. In the last 12 months, only in March, there were no areas experiencing drought of any type (weak, moderate, severe, or extreme).

The Climatological Bulletin for April indicates that the continent was very hot in terms of air temperature and very dry in terms of precipitation.


Hot weather

According to IPMA, it was the 10th hottest April since 1931 and the 4th hottest since 2000.

“The average value of the average air temperature, 15.45 °C, registered an anomaly of + 1.86 °C in relation to the 1981-2010 normal”.

The average maximum air temperature was the 4th highest since 2000. The average minimum temperature was also above normal.

“During the month, the relatively long period of air temperature values above the monthly average values stands out”, especially between the 10th and 24th, when a heat wave occurred in almost the entire territory.

At a global level, the IPMA highlights that April 2024 was the hottest month on record, with a global average temperature of 15.03 °C, which is equivalent to 0.67 °C above the 1991-2020 average value.

As the European Copernicus Observatory reported last week, the IPMA also highlights that April is estimated to have been around 1.58 °C warmer than the pre-industrial average of 1850-1900.

“This is the eleventh hottest consecutive month ever recorded for the respective month of the year”, highlights the IPMA, also stating that in Europe the average value of the average air temperature was 1.49 °C above the average value 1991-2020, being the 2nd hottest April since records began.

In the Iberian Peninsula, some areas had days with maximum temperatures above 30°C.