Madrid.The Agency (AEMET) said that Spain as a whole had only registered an average of 16 litres per square metre of rainfall in September, a third less than normal .
AEMET also reported that the month had been particularly hot (the fifth hottest of the past half century) with an average temperature of 22.1 degrees Centigrade, 1.8 degrees above normal.
Paradox
The Weather Agency said that there had been what it described as a strange twist to September this year because the month began with autumnal conditions and ended as being typically summery. However, said AEMET spokesman Angel Rivera, the polar squalls stretching down across northern Europe and touching the south, barely affected the mainland and the Balearics which remained under a mass of high pressure and hot air.
Rivera said that it had remained very hot in the Balearics last month with temperatures averaging out at one or two degrees above the historic average established between the years 1971 and 2000.
The pattern of rainfall and temperatures however, proved very uneven, claimed Rivera because there were some areas of Spain, including the Canary Islands where September was in fact colder than normal.
In the Balearics, it was only Minorca that had normal or higher rainfall levels for the time of year.