September Hits 34 Degrees: Hottest Summer in 157 Years

September in Short Sleeves: The Hottest Summer in 157 Years

The calendar reads September 22nd. The thermometer reads 33-34 degrees in the north. Autumn began with heat uncharacteristic for the date, and according to a forum user, it was the warmest September 22nd in the historical record, while the State Meteorological Agency (Aemet) already warns that the next quarter will remain above normal. Summer 2026 closed as the most scorching in Spain since 1869: 157 years, for anyone who still believes this is the usual Indian summer.

Why is it 34 Degrees at the End of September?

The report was presented in Valencia by the Aemet climatologist team, led by spokesperson Rubén del Campo, and the headline is hard to dispute: summer 2026 has been the hottest since at least 1869, trinc the climate reconstruction the agency extends back to that year. In the official series, the one starting in 1961, it is also number one. With this starting point, 33-34 degrees in the north at the end of September ceases to be an anecdote and becomes a pattern.

And it's not just the heat. What's missing is water, with a dry summer comparable to 2015 and 2017, according to the analysis discussed in the thread itself. Drought isn't visible on the thermometer, but it's felt in the fields and on the bills.

A Beach Day at Noon and a Blanket at Night

No one experiences the same September. A single day can bring a high of 29.2°C and a low of 7.4°C, and that gap allows us to simultaneously say it's unseasonably hot and that you sleep covered at night. In northern Palencia, at 8:00 AM, the thermometer registered -0.5 degrees: the van's windshield needed scraping.

In León, the range between 30 and 15 degrees is read as normal for the date. In the south, lows remain at 19-20 degrees and drop to 16-17 within days. In the Basque Country, it went from 23-24 degrees to 26, and then to 32. The thermal amplitude is enormous, the ground remains hot, and the air conditioning turns on just by opening the window in the morning.

St. Michael's Summer: The Old Calendar Excuse

Around September 29th, St. Michael's Day, there's usually a brief period of good weather: between 3 and 7 days, temperatures 3-6°C above normal, highs of 28-30°C, and up to 35-38°C in the southwestern valleys. Then comes St. Martin's Day. These are older terms than a cold and serve to explain a week of late heat, not four months of anomaly. Therein lies the overlooked detail: the Indian summer lasts days, summer has held the reins since June.

From "Scam" to "Unbearable": The Narrative Cracks

There's a scene that summarizes the year. People who declare themselves staunch defenders of climate "scams" admit, without ceasing to be so, that this summer has been unbearable and that the heat has worked against their own narrative. Others acknowledge they didn't believe any of this and are now considering leaving Spain.

Conversely, the argument of cycles weighs heavily: the climate has always changed, the medieval optimum, the glaciation predicted in the seventies, or the ice growing in Antarctica. A third current, talking about geoengineering and estela, circulates in the debate without any supporting evidence. The underlying problem remains the same: if heat like this isn't enough, what would be?

The Thermometer of Memories

Memory isn't data, but it points. Those who grew up going to the cemetery on All Saints' Day wearing a jacket remember going in short sleeves now and early in the day. Those who harvested grapes in the eighties and nineties remember heat and flies, yes, but also years when it rained heavily. Both things can be true and don't cancel each other out.

With autumn just beginning and official forecasts pointing to more heat than usual, the issue won't resolve itself easily. How many more Septembers like this are needed before people stop arguing about whether it's normal?