Tropical nights on the rise: Palma de Mallorca exceeds normal nighttime heat limits for the eighth consecutive year.

PalmHeState Meteorological Agency (Aemet) In the Balearic Islands, the weather has confirmed that July 2025 has brought a new peak in nighttime heat to the islands, with a notable increase in the number of tropical nights—those in which the temperature does not drop below 20°C. The Portopí station in Palma recorded every night of the month as tropical for the eighth consecutive year, with a total of 17 torrid nights, above 25°C, a record number considering the average is only two.

This July was the twelfth warmest since 1961, with an average temperature of 26°C and a positive anomaly of 1.2°C. Ibiza and Formentera also experienced a significant increase in minimum temperatures: 28 tropical nights in Ibiza (when the normal is 23) and 29 in Formentera (normally 27). In Menorca, the airport station recorded 19 tropical nights, slightly below average.

Despite a month-end with below-average values, the end of June was marked by the first heat wave of the summer, which ended on July 1.

Precipitation 277% higher

Aemet data, which also indicates a particularly wet July, show that summer in the Balearic Islands is changing: hotter, more warm nights, and more extreme episodes. It was the seventh wettest July since 1961. Rainfall was 277% higher than usual for this month, with an average of 19.4 liters per square meter, compared to the normal 5.2 l/m², i.e., 3.7 times more than usual.

In Mallorca, the difference was even more marked: 22.9 l/m² was recorded, four times more than usual for this time of year, a 311% increase.

In statements to ARA Baleares, Aemet spokesperson María José Guerrero clarifies these percentages: "It's true that it's a significant percentage increase, but it's gone from five to 20 liters per square meter." "Personally, I'm grateful for the milder temperatures and the rain, but it doesn't solve the problem of the lack of water," she comments. "What is striking is that it rained during a period that is normally the driest of the year," she adds. Everything points, therefore, to June—which was the driest on record—going down as the driest month of the year, with just 0.1 liters per square meter.

Heatwave with Low Temperatures

Guerrero also points out that "it's unusual that in the middle of the dog days"—the period between July 15 and August 15—there are "11 days with below-normal temperatures." This is when much of the month's rainfall was concentrated.

This excess rainfall has been concentrated in a few episodes, some of them accompanied by mud and storms. In Mallorca, there were four days with precipitation mixed with suspended dust, a phenomenon that only occurs, on average, once in July.

Significant torrents were also recorded in the port of Ciutadella, with fluctuations exceeding one meter in height on the 23rd and 25th. This combination of intense heat and abundant rainfall reinforces the trend toward more extreme and irregular weather in the Mediterranean. Guerrero points out that, when talking about climate change, it must be done with a 30-year time perspective, and therefore it cannot be stated "conclusively" that these more irregular phenomena are directly due to climate change. What has been confirmed, he adds, is that "in recent years, more extreme values have been recorded."

More heat from Thursday onwards

As for August, the warm air mass that is hitting the Iberian Peninsula—currently in the grip of a heat wave—will reach the Balearic Islands starting this Thursday, with temperatures likely ranging between 30 and 36 degrees. For that day, the Aemet (Mexico City Meteorological Agency) has issued high temperature warnings for inland areas and northern Mallorca. Furthermore, the numerical models the agency is working with indicate the possibility of precipitation in the last week of August.