Iberians hit the beaches as temperatures rise 10C above normal

Women shade their eyes during hot weather in Bilbao, Spain, April 13, 2024. /Vincent West

BILBAO/LISBON - People in Bilbao in northwestern Spain normally spend April dodging the showers but on Saturday many hit the beach as temperatures were up to 10 degrees Celsius (18 degrees Fahrenheit) above normal.

The Portuguese were also hitting the beach near Lisbon as temperatures rose to as high as 29 C.

Many people swapped umbrellas for ice creams as temperatures reached 21 C in Bilbao and were expected to hit 27 C elsewhere on Sunday, Aemet, the state weather forecasting agency said.

"Temperatures, both on Saturday and Sunday, will be between 5 and 10 degrees Celsius higher than normal in much of the country, and between 10 and 15 degrees Celsius [higher] in the northern third of the peninsula and the Canary Islands," Aemet said in a post on the social media site X.

Temperatures more often experienced in summer months were being recorded in April, Aemet said.

In Portugal, temperatures were also higher than usual for this time of the year, according to weather agency IPMA on Saturday.

In the central region of Santarem, temperatures are expected to reach 31 C.

However, by next week temperatures in much of Spain will dip again, particularly in northern Spain, Aemet said.

(Reporting by Graham Keeley in Barcelona, Vincent West in Bilbao, Catherine Macdonald in Madrid and Catarina Demony in Lisbon; editing by Clelia Oziel)