World weatherwatch: Iberia's terral blows in with oppressive heat

Hot dry air from Africa nudged up the mercury and then came flash floods and thunderstormsIn the first week of August the heatwave conditions in Iberia broke up. Described in Spain as a terral wind, such oppressive heatwaves occur when hot, dry, air advances from north Africa. There was speculation that maximum temperature records could be broken, perhaps reaching 48C (118.4F) inland. But the mercury only reached a peak of 45.4C, in Évora, Portugal.The relief from the heat was partly thanks to the arrival of a cold front, along which thunderstorms developed. Continue reading...