The intense heat affecting the Canary Islands has begun to ease across most of the archipelago, although two islands will continue to face high temperatures over the coming hours.
The Directorate-General for Emergencies of the Canary Islands Government updated the situation on Wednesday and downgraded the warning for maximum temperatures to a pre-alert in Gran Canaria and Fuerteventura. In the rest of the Canary Islands, the heat episode has been declared over.
The new declaration came into force at 1:00 p.m. on Wednesday, 9 September, following a resolution issued at 11:20 a.m. under the Canary Islands’ Specific Emergency Plan for Risks Arising from Adverse Meteorological Phenomena, known as PEFMA.
The decision marks an improvement compared with recent days, when several parts of the archipelago were affected by high temperatures, warm nights and fire-risk conditions.
Gran Canaria remains under pre-alert
Gran Canaria will continue under pre-alert for maximum temperatures, particularly in the mountain areas and on the eastern, southern and western slopes of the island.
According to the Directorate-General for Emergencies, temperatures are expected to reach or exceed 34°C across large parts of the Tejeda basin, as well as in mid-altitude and lower areas facing south and west.
The highest values could be recorded in more localised areas, especially in the mid-altitude zones and on the peaks of the southern half of the island. In these areas, temperatures may reach up to 37°C.
Although the general heatwave is easing, the conditions in Gran Canaria remain significant enough for the authorities to maintain a pre-alert and continue monitoring the situation closely.
Fuerteventura also remains affected
Fuerteventura will also remain on pre-alert, with the highest temperatures expected mainly in the southern half of the island.
The Directorate-General for Emergencies forecasts temperatures above 34°C across large parts of the island’s interior. These high values may also extend to some areas of the south-eastern coast.
At specific times of the day, temperatures in Fuerteventura could reach 36°C. The authorities describe the current episode as a heatwave with “tropical characteristics” and warn that there is still a high degree of uncertainty regarding how it may develop over the coming hours.
Pre-alert lifted in the rest of the Canary Islands
The latest update removes the heat pre-alert from the rest of the Canary Islands, where the authorities consider that the weather conditions that justified maintaining the warning have now come to an end.
This means that islands previously affected by the wider heat episode are no longer under the same preventive measures for maximum temperatures. However, the Directorate-General for Emergencies will continue to monitor the development of the situation and any further updates to the weather forecast.
The measure follows several days of high temperatures across the archipelago. Since 7 September, the Canary Islands Government had maintained an alert for high maximum temperatures in the southern half of Gran Canaria, while other areas of the islands remained under pre-alert.
With the latest update, the most intense part of the heat episode appears to be receding, although Gran Canaria and Fuerteventura remain the two islands where temperatures may still reach potentially dangerous levels.
