article_detail

If you thought it felt chilly yesterday, on Tuesday January 6, spare a thought for those up in the Sierra Nevada National Park. The coldest reading in the whole of Spain was taken in Pedrollano, in the province of Granada, where the thermometer plunged to a bitter -17.3ºC at 9.40am, according to the State Meteorological Agency, Aemet. That was the standout figure on the national table of minimum temperatures for the day.

 

Pedrollano was not alone. Two other spots in the Sierra Nevada National Park also squeezed into the top five coldest places in the country. The area around the Sierra Nevada radiotelescope recorded -13.9ºC at 9.40am, while nearby Laguna Seca registered -13.4ºC at the same time, confirming Granada as one of Spain’s main cold traps when the weather turns wintry. Another Granadan location, Camarate 2, made the list as well, taking tenth place with -12.2ºC at 10.00am.

 

Elsewhere in Spain, the deep freeze was felt in other high and inland areas. Molina de Aragón in Guadalajara reached -14ºC at 5.40am, and Cap de Vaquèira in Lleida saw the same -14ºC at 9.30am, both coming in just behind Pedrollano in the national ranking. Aemet described it as a morning of “extreme temperatures” in some parts of the country, especially at altitude.

 

Down at lower levels in Andalucía the picture was more mixed, with a real patchwork of temperatures depending on where you live. Forecasts for the day put minimums between 8ºC in Almería and -2ºC in Granada, highlighting what a contrast there was between the coast and the interior. By provincial reference points, the expected lows were 5ºC in Cádiz, 0ºC in Córdoba, 3ºC in Huelva, 0ºC in Jaén, 6ºC in Málaga and 3ºC in Seville.

 

So while many people along the Andalusian coastline simply reached for an extra jumper, up in Sierra Nevada it was a proper deep winter’s morning, the kind that reminds you just how extreme Spain’s weather can be from one corner of the country to another.

 

 

Image: Jose Manuel Gonzalez Lupiañez Photography/Pexels