MADRID - Temperatures in parts of central Spain set record highs for May this week, the National Meteorological Institute said on Thursday.
All-time records were logged in nine places on Wednesday, including Toledo, west of Madrid, which reached 38.4 Celsius (101 Fahrenheit) and Cordoba further south at 39.5.
Many other places were close to their previous record highs for the month, which the meteorological office noted were set on the last day of May in 2001.
Madrid's Barajas airport had its highest May temperature since 1953 at 36.2 Celsius.
Climate analysts say central Spain is one part of the world that will feel the impact of global warming most. In the worst case scenarios, summer temperatures there could rise by 5 to 7 degrees this century.
REUTERS NEWS SERVICE
