It appears that this summer has been particularly difficult to sleep, even with a fan. And the numbers back this up, to the point where 2025 could end with a worrying record: practically one in every three nights with the thermometer not dropping below 20 degrees on the coast of the province of Alicante. More than 100 tropical nights have been recorded for the first time in various locations this year.
It demonstrates the unmistakable influence of climate change, and the warming of the Mediterranean, with summer temperatures more characteristic of a Caribbean sea, is causing a major loss of nighttime comfort.
Not only that, but also exacerbates health problems, resulting in a record number of heat-related deaths during the summer.
And it’s not just the high daytime temperatures that have an effect; the fact that this heat lasts all night has a larger impact on chronic illnesses since individuals are unable to slumber. And that was the hottest summer ever recorded (1950).
For the first time, Alicante has had more than 100 tropical nights in a single year. According to the State Meteorological Agency (Aemet), this figure is anticipated to rise further in the coming weeks, despite the fact that it has recently begun to cool off at night on the shore.
The Alicante-Ciudad Jardín observatory had experienced 102 nights with temperatures above 20 degrees Celsius as of this week. According to records from 1939, the record was 97 nights in 2023. In 2024 and 2022, 92 nights were recorded, making it four years in a row where the temperature exceeded 90 degrees. And 2025 isn’t finished yet.
“We have shattered a record. We’ve never had 100 tropical nights in Alicante before, and there will be more during the year. We’ll exceed 110 or 115, which is fantastic.”
This phenomena, which is not confined to Alicante, has a clear growing trend. According to the Valencian Meteorological Association (Avamet), additional coastal cities such as Benidorm, Calp, Dénia, Xàbia, Pego, Finestrat, La Vila Joiosa, Santa Pola, Callosa de Segura, Altea, Teulada, and Torrevieja have also had more than one hundred tropical nights. Other cities further inland, such as Rojales, Elche, San Vicente del Raspeig, and Mutxamel, have also seen increased activity.
The forecast for today, Monday September 29th, is for more tropical nights to be recorded, which is likely to happen more frequently in October, so the total number of tropical nights could be around 110 or 115. This occurs almost every third night.
Tropical, torrid, or dreadful night
Tropical evenings are ones in which the temperature never falls below 20°C. These are extremely uncomfortable nights without a fan or air conditioning. In Alicante, they have increased by five or six times the data from the 1970s and 1980s, totalling more than 100 nights.
However, within this occurrence, two more distinctions can be made. There are equatorial or torrid evenings where the temperature does not drop below 25 degrees, making sleep even more difficult.
The most extreme scenario is what Aemet is beginning to refer to, albeit unofficially, as a “hellish night,” with temperatures never dropping below 30 degrees Celsius, transforming the night into hell. A dozen communities in the province have already seen this in August.
According to Aemet’s report of 102 tropical nights in Alicante, Jorge Olcina, head of the UA Climatology Laboratory, stated that “we broke a record.” We’ve never had 100 tropical nights in Alicante, and there will be more” because more are forecast for the weekend of September 27 and 28 and the next week, so “we’ll go above 110 or 115, which is an outrage.”
The professor of Regional Geographic Analysis emphasised that “people need to know that for almost four months a year, the temperature doesn’t drop below 20 degrees in the city of Alicante,” which contrasts with the figures from the 1970s and 1980s, when there were only 15 or 20 tropical nights on the coast, “so it’s multiplied by five or six. “It’s completely outrageous.”
Alicante boasts the most tropical nights on the Iberian Peninsula
And the Alicante coast is where this phenomena is most evident on the Iberian Peninsula, therefore the capital may have the most tropical nights in Spain, except the Canary Islands.
Olcina stated that “tropical nights are generally found along the Mediterranean coast as a whole, from Barcelona to Malaga. However, the most significant increases have been documented in Valencia, Alicante, and Cartagena.”
In the 70s and 80s, there were only 15 or 20 tropical nights in Alicante’s city per year, a figure that has multiplied by 5 or 6.
“This is because the Mediterranean coast’s waters reach the highest temperatures and remain warm for the longest periods of time.” The Balearic Sea is also known as the Sea of Algiers. That’s why Alicante, Cartagena, and Valencia have such high minimum temperatures.
The water temperature off the province’s coast hovered around 30 degrees Celsius in August and is currently around 27 degrees Celsius. These data are similar to those from previous years, indicating that it does not cool down at night, increasing the likelihood of a more severe autumn storm.
Thus, the head of the UA’s Climatology Laboratory has pointed out that “leaving aside the Canary Islands, which record the most tropical nights, Alicante must undoubtedly be the city on the Iberian Peninsula with the highest number of tropical nights overall, with a longer duration of nighttime heat.”
Here’s how tropical evenings affect health
Nights when the temperature does not fall below 20 degrees Celsius exacerbate sleeplessness, asthenia (physical and mental weakness), and chronic diseases, particularly heart and respiratory disorders.
Children and those over the age of 65 are particularly vulnerable to this phenomena. It has a significant impact on health since it prevents the body from getting the essential amount of sleep.
Tropical nights alter sleep cycles, making it impossible to enter the most restorative REM phase, as warned by the Valencian Society of Family and Community Medicine (Sovamfic).
Difficulty sleeping can also cause mood changes and high blood pressure.
Evidence of Climate Change
For Olcina, “it’s the most obvious element of climate change in Alicante.” In Alicante, we don’t have record daytime temperatures of 50 degrees; they aren’t apparent right now since they are tough to reach. However, our heat is very continuous and steady. That midnight heat is really persistent, and it matches the temperature of the very warm sea water in front of us.
Equatorial evenings
However, not only has the record for tropical nights been broken, but the climatologist warns that the number of nights in which the temperature has not dropped below 25 degrees has skyrocketed, known as an equatorial or torrid night, of which there was only one in Alicante last year and ten in 2023, with the highest so far being fourteen in 2015.
“Our heat in Alicante is quite persistent, very consistent. That nocturnal heat is extremely persistent and directly tied to seawater temperature.”
Jorge Olcina – Director of the UA Climatology Lab.
Thus, Olcina stated that “this year, equatorial nights with temperatures above 25 degrees will surely have exceeded 30 days,” referring to the high temperatures experienced during the extremely extended heat wave in August.
Alicante enters a warmer, drier autumn
The State Meteorological Agency (Aemet) predicts a warmer-than-average fall in the province of Alicante, following the warmest summer on record (June, July, and August).
Thus, throughout the months of September, October, and November (climatic autumn), “there is a high probability that the average temperature will be in the warm tercile throughout Spain, more pronounced in the north, east of the peninsula, and the Balearic Islands.”
Regarding rainfall , during the climatic autumn, “there is a high probability that accumulated precipitation will be in the dry tercile in the western peninsula and the Canary Islands. In the remainder of Spain, the likelihood of accumulating precipitation in terciles is climatological.”
In any event, Olcina has noted that the forecasts also hint to a drier fall, but with the potential of a dana.
As a result, the researcher emphasised that all of this “is further confirmation that our climate in Alicante is becoming increasingly less comfortable, especially in summer, with uncomfortable temperatures.” And this year’s results confirm a pretty clear pattern from previous years.”
Deaths due to heat
“People don’t give this importance, but it’s essential because it also links to the recent news of heat-related deaths,” he noted. This weekit was published that 310 people died in the province of Alicante this summer, the worst figure since the Ministry of Health began keeping records. This represents one hundred more deaths than in 2024.
“Illnesses in sensitive individuals, such as those with respiratory or heart conditions, worsen at night because the heat prevents the body from resting properly.”
Jorge Olcina – Director of the UA Climatology Lab.
The scientist stated that “people do not perish because the temperature is 45 or 50 degrees at midday. Sensitive people’s ailments, particularly those with respiratory or heart conditions, increase at night because their bodies are unable to relax adequately, resulting in heat-related deaths. This year’s more than 300 heat-related deaths is an injustice.
Olcina stated that this record number of deaths adds to the record for tropical and equatorial nights in a historically hot summer… “We are breaking records for a variety of factors, including minimum temperatures, wind, and less intense rain… This is the current climate, in which the exceptional has become everyday. “The extraordinary is becoming the new normal in the Mediterranean climate.”
Author: Derek Appleton
Other Articles
Virtual reality headsets help prevent accidents in Cartagena
No Comment! Be the first one.