Government activate alert for high temperatures of 35°C across the Canary Islands

An influx of warm and dry air, coupled with intense haze (Calima), has put the Archipelago on high alert until Sunday due to high temperatures, which could reach 35°C, which is exceptionally high for spring being 10 degrees above normal for the time of year.

A pre-alert for calima has also been issued, which adds to various adverse weather phenomena warnings. Alerts are also active for strong winds, with gusts exceeding 100 kilometres/hour in several areas yesterday; a pre-alert for rough seas along the Islands' coasts; and for coastal flooding on the islands of Lanzarote and Fuerteventura, especially during high tide; plus there is also a forest fire alert active in Tenerife and Gran Canaria.

A mass of warm and dry air of African origin began to enter the Canary Islands yesterday afternoon (Tuesday) and will bring, for almost a week, unusually high temperatures for this time of year, ranging between 30 to 35°C as maximum temperatures, and also an increase in minimum temperatures.

It will be the presence of this warm air mass accompanied by the calima from the Sahara that will cause this rise in temperatures, with values typical of summer and exceptionally high for this time of year.

For this reason, the Government of the Canary Islands has activated a high-temperature alert for maximum temperatures in inland areas of Lanzarote and Fuerteventura.

From today, the same applies to Tenerife, Gran Canaria, La Gomera, La Palma, and El Hierro, where the presence of this warm mass, strong winds, and insolation will result in temperatures reaching, or even exceeding, 34°C. Only areas protected by the trade winds will not experience this increase. The situation will persist until next Monday.

Furthermore, the Government declared a forest fire alert, which came into effect from 8:00am today. The Cabildos have already deployed their firefighting resources and implemented access restrictions and prohibitions in forest areas.