Catalonia's average temperature over last 30 years up one degree on 1961 to 1990

Catalonia's average temperature recorded during the last 30 years (1991-2020) was one degree higher than the one registered between 1961 and 1990, as announced by the Catalan Meteorological Service (Meteocat) on Thursday. 

The average is higher than the world's average, which only increased 1.1 degrees from 1851 to the last decade, as Javier Martín-Vide, professor and the author of the study unveiled on Thursday, said to media outlets. 

The 'Atles Climàtic' (or meteorological atlas) studies the different climate conditions registered in the last three decades. 

Some of the most noticeable changes between both periods are driven by the urban heat island effect recorded in Barcelona, its metropolitan area, and the southern city of Tarragona, in these cases, the temperature is 17.9 degrees. 

"The University of Barcelona's History and Geography building is probably the warmest place in the city. It registered 17.9 degrees," Javier Martín-Vide, UB professor, said.

At the moment, "the temperature in Collserola mountain is the same as recorded in the Eixample neighborhood 30 years ago," Sarai Sarroca, director of Meteocat, said. 

During the last 30 years, the average temperature in Catalonia was 13.1 degrees, two below the world's average. The highest average temperature recorded was in Roquetes, south of Catalonia, with 18.4 degrees registered throughout the years. What is considered the "weather in the southern Spanish city of Málaga some years ago," experts said. 

Meanwhile, the coldest place in Catalonia was in Boí, in the Pyrenees, where temperatures during the last three decades averaged 2.1 degrees.

 Just on the Pica d'Estats mountain peak, the highest point in Catalonia above sea level, the temperature averages just below 0 degrees.

The Mediterranean Sea is also warming up due to climate change, and in the last years, since the mid-19th century, the temperature increased by 1.4 degrees.