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Date Published: 14/01/2025

La Niña returns in 2025: What impact will it have on Spanish weather?

This climate event can lead to more extreme weather conditions in different parts of Spain

La Niña is a natural climate phenomenon characterised by the cooling of sea surface temperatures. While it originates in the Pacific, its ripple effects extend globally and in Spain, it can result in increased rainfall in some regions and drier and warmer winters in the south.

On the other hand, this weather pattern is known to contribute to colder-than-average temperatures in central and northern Spain during winter, along with an uptick in Atlantic storms and the increased risk of flooding they bring.

Although it’s believed that La Niña actually formed sometime in December, the Climate Prediction Centre in Spain only confirmed that it has officially begun at the start of January, and it looks set to hang around for a few months.

Now that it has property formed, there is a 59% probability that La Niña will persist between February and April. There is also an estimated 60% probability of returning to neutral conditions between March and May.

So, how will the La Niña of 2025 impact the weather here in Spain?

La Niña generally produces large-scale climate impacts opposite to those of El Niño, especially in tropical regions.

Temperatures

The year 2024 began with an El Niño event that helped make it the warmest year on record. Although much of 2024 was spent under neutral conditions, we witnessed a number of extreme weather events, including record-breaking rainfall, flooding, drought and wildfires.

In 2025, La Niña could cool global temperatures slightly, meaning the temperature record of 2024 seems unlikely to be broken this year. But despite this, 2025 is still likely to be among the three warmest years on record, according to the experts.

In fact, any cooling impact on global temperatures is likely to be weak and short-lived, and will do little to counteract the long-term trajectory of rising global temperatures due to heat-trapping greenhouse gases in the atmosphere.

Rainfall

La Niña is a bit of a game of two halves. On the one hand, it usually brings increased rainfall to the northern and western parts of Spain, which could help alleviate drought conditions in these areas.

But on the other, the southern and eastern regions of Spain might experience drier conditions, potentially exacerbating drought and increasing the risk of wildfires.

What’s interesting to note is that Spain has experienced some fierce weather conditions even when La Niña and El Niño weren’t in force, such as the devastating DANA flooding in October. Now, with the La Niña phenomenon in full swing, we will have to wait and see what it has in store for Spain, but one thing is certain: 2025 will be a year of climatic contrasts and extremes.

Stay up to date with all the latest weather and climate change news by joining our Spain Weather Watch Facebook group

Image: Pixabay

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