Amid the scorching heat on Sunday, the North African nation’s weather service said temperatures in Morocco exceeded 50 degrees Celsius (120 degrees Fahrenheit) for the first time in history. The General Directorate of Meteorology said a weather station in the south coastal city of Agadir recorded a new national record of 50.4C on Friday.
Morocco has experienced a series of heatwaves in the summer with record temperatures. According to the weather service, the previous highest temperature of 49.9°C was recorded on July 13 in the Western Sahara city of Smara.
“This heatwave is caused by the arrival of dry, hot air from the south, which has caused a significant increase in temperatures between 5 and 13 degrees above the monthly average temperature,” the weather service said in a statement.
A heatwave in recent days has caused forest fires in northern Morocco near Tangier and further east in Taza province, damaging forests but not causing casualties, AFP reporters reported.
July was the hottest month ever recorded on Earth, according to the European Union’s Copernicus Climate Change Service. It exceeded the previous record in July 2019 by 0.33C.
Last month was Morocco’s fourth warmest July since 1961. Weather forecasts predict a slight drop in temperatures in the coming days in northern parts of North Africa.
Source: Port Altele
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