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This weekend in Madrid felt more like mid-July than mid-May, with people enjoying the early summer heat in the Spanish capital.
This latest heatwave to hit Spain is thanks to southerly air flows from Africa.
It has pushed the mercury 10 degrees higher than the normal average for this time of year.
Last year's record broken
Last year was already the hottest May on record and that has now been broken in the Guadalquivir valley in Andalusia where the temperature touched 40 degrees.
The pattern of rising temperatures and longer summer seasons is not a surprise for many experts and has prompted more pressing concerns in Spain.
Martin Borreiro, a meteorologist for state broadcaster RTVE, told CGTN Europe the heat was having a detrimental effect on water supplies.
"One of the main worries ahead of the summer is the available water reserves. This weather has arrived way too soon, well ahead of our summer and causes rapid evaporation of our reservoirs," he said.
"That should not be happening right now. We should have had the last of the seasonal rains to help increase our water reserve."
In Spain, the ten hottest summers on record have all come this century.
The longer, drier and hotter climate means the risk of forest fires, desertification and drought are now ever-present in many regions across the peninsula.
There are no quick solutions to reducing the earth's temperature.
The main focus has been to work on bringing down carbon emissions across the globe.
The pace of climate change
Borreiro says he was surprised at how rapid the pace of climate change seemed to be happening.
This week is a typical summer heatwave. What is strange about it this time is that it's happened way too soon with extreme temperatures all around Spain and not just in the south.
If there is no real ambition to reduce carbon emissions major climate change is on the way.
Recent studies, like that published by Atmospheric Research, claim that extreme weather days are set to double in less than three decades.
If that rings true, the Iberian Peninsula's weather will feel more like the Middle East than the Mediterranean.
(CGTN)
