The damage caused to Spain’s agricultural sector by climate change this year is likely to be an absolute record, government spokeswoman Isabel Rodríguez in Madrid said on Tuesday, as quoted by Agerpres.

According to the latest available data, Spain’s agriculture has recorded losses of 684 million euros in the first months of 2022, with estimates showing that the record of 720 million euros set last year is likely to be surpassed.

In the spring, Spain was hit by an unusual wave of low temperatures, which reached -10°C at the beginning of April. Such a temperature was recorded in mountainous areas, and in the capital Madrid it was -3 degrees. Even in the south of Spain there were places where the temperature dropped below +5 degrees.

The wave of extreme cold affected other European countries at that time.

Then, in the summer, Spain was hit by unusually high temperatures, recording 44°C in the shade on 13 July. The heat wave, Spain’s second of the summer, was one of the longest since meteorological records began in 1975.

Similar situations were also recorded in Great Britain or France in the context of the historic heat wave that swept Europe this summer. Unusual temperatures continued in November in some European countries, including Spain.

The Spanish government estimates that flooding caused by heavy autumn rains has exacerbated already existing problems and will cause further damage of tens of millions of euros.