The Portuguese were also hitting the beach near Lisbon as temperatures rose to as high as 29°C.

Many people swapped umbrellas for ice creams as temperatures reached 21°C in Bilbao and were expected to hit 27°C elsewhere today, Aemet, the state weather forecasting agency said.

“Temperatures, both on today and tomorrow, will be between 5°C and 10°C higher than normal in much of the country, and between 10°C and 15°C (higher) in the northern third of the peninsula and the Canary Islands,” Aemet said in a post on the social media site X.

Temperatures more often experienced in summer months were being recorded in April, Aemet said.

In Portugal, temperatures were also higher than usual for this time of the year, according to weather agency Ipma yesterday.

In the central region of Santarem, temperatures are expected to reach 31°C.

However, by next week temperatures in much of Spain will dip again, particularly in northern Spain, Aemet said.