More than 1,000 hot weather warnings issued last year

Last week, the Government announced that it will prohibit working outdoors during episodes of high temperatures in the country, dictated by the State Meteorological Agency (Aemet) activating either an orange alert for high temperatures, which is described as a significant risk, or a red alert, considered extreme risk.

According to Aemet, last year, that situation occurred up to 1,084 times at some point in the country from May to September, with Andalusia being the worst in terms of the number of alerts, with 245, followed by Extremadura, with 154, and Castilla-La Mancha, with 144.

In contrast, in Ceuta and Melilla there were none and where fewer notices registered was in Asturias, with 3, Cantabria, with 11, and in Murcia, with 13.

The worst month, by overwhelming difference, was July, with 713 notices, followed by June, with 231, while in May there were 6 and, in September, with 1.

The alerts, however, are not generally issued for the entire region or province, but are issued to much smaller areas, and so the calculated figures may not show a true reflection of the situation for a specific location.

In general terms, orange alerts are issued when it is expected that temperatures will exceed 37, 39 or 40 degrees, depending on the zones; and the red alerts, with 38, 40 or 44 degrees, also depending on the area, as a warning and threshold may be different in each zone, an overview is detailed in the table below.

The Government itself, and Protection Civil may also issue warnings.

Temperatures Reference thresholds for the impact on health due to high temperatures