Hottest, Driest April on Record in Spain

MADRID (AP) -- Drought-stricken Spain says last month was the hottest and driest April since records began in 1961.

The State Meteorological Agency, known by the Spanish acronym AEMET, said Monday the average daily temperature in April was 14.9 degrees Celsius (58.8 Fahrenheit), that is 3 degrees Celsius above the average.

AEMET said average maximum temperatures during the month were up by 4.7 Celsius.

Rainfall was a fifth of what would normally be expected in the month, making it the driest April on record in Spain.

Last year was Spain's hottest since record-keeping started in 1961, and also the country's sixth driest.

Three years of scant rainfall and high temperatures put the country officially into long-term drought earlier this year.

A flash study by a group of international scientists last week found that record-breaking April temperatures in Spain, Portugal and northern Africa were made 100 times more likely by human-caused climate change and would have been almost impossible in the past.

The government has requested emergency funds from the European Union to support farmers and ranchers whose crops are being affected by the situation.