Madrid (EFE).- The Ministry of Health activated its prevention plan for high temperatures on Thursday, which sets thresholds above which excess heat leads to health risks and associated deaths, ranging from 26 degrees in Asturias to 41.5 in Cordoba.
The National Plan for Preventive Measures for the Health Impacts of Excessive Temperatures in 2024, which EFE has access to, will be in effect until September 30, although there is flexibility to extend it until October 15 if necessary.
The Ministry of Health has been implementing this plan for 20 years, although two years ago it moved its start from June to mid-May due to increasingly frequent and prolonged bouts of extreme heat on these dates.
For each score higher, the death rate increases by up to 10.7%.
This year’s program maintains the regional boundaries within which high temperatures begin to have a negative impact on health, but introduces 182 meteorological regions (areas of land that are climatically homogeneous in terms of temperature behaviour) as a new feature. daily, and there may be several in one district).
For every degree by which the ambient temperature exceeds these thresholds, the risk of death due to high temperatures increases by between 9.1% and 10.7%, meaning that for every day that there is an extreme heat attack, deaths increase, on average, by 3 deaths per day.
As in previous summers, the Ministry will launch mechanisms that place warning signs indicating an increase in deaths related to high temperatures.
According to the MOMO, there were 21,774 excess deaths attributable to high temperatures between 2015 and 2023; The record-breaking year was 2022 with 4,789 excess deaths, followed by 2023 with 3,009 deaths that, although they vary greatly depending on the community, are mainly concentrated in people over the age of 65.
Thresholds by governorate
As a result of the large geographical variation of the region, the risk thresholds are not the same everywhere, so the plan adjusts these thresholds taking provincial capitals and meteorological regions as a reference point.
Thus, the highest peaks are reserved for the Andalusian capitals (ranging from 35.5 degrees in Almería and 37.2 in Málaga to 40.5 in Seville and 41.4 in Cordoba, the highest in all of Spain), and Extremadura (37.2 in Cáceres and 40 in Badajoz). ) and Murcia (38.8).
In Castilla-La Mancha, their number ranges from 36 in Cuenca, 37.9 in Toledo, and 38.1 in Ciudad Real; In Aragon, the maximum is Zaragoza (38) compared to 36.7 in Teruel and 34.5 in Huesca, and in Catalonia, Lleida has the highest value (37.9) and Barcelona the lowest (31).
Madrid is set at 35.6 degrees. La Rioja 34.5 and Navarra 34.4; In Galicia the greatest variation is found, with 27.5 in A Coruña and 37.4 in Ourense; In Castile and León, the danger threshold is 36.1 degrees in Zamora, 36.9 in Valladolid and 35.3 in Salamanca, falling to values of around 33 in the rest.
The same score of 33 or slightly higher was set in Arabba, Bizcaya, Las Palmas, the Balearic Islands, Ceuta and Melilla, and a few tenths lower in Alicante (31.8) and Castellón (32.8). The lowest values are found in Cantabria (26.6) and Asturias (26.4).
How it works?
In order to function properly, the State Meteorological Agency (Aemet) provides daily the maximum and minimum temperatures expected for that day, classified by provincial capital and isothermal zones, and forecasts for the next five.
Depending on the number of days in which the limits specified in the plan are exceeded, risk levels are defined, ranging from “Level 0” to “Level 3”, each of which includes a series of measures for coordination with all relevant agents from different ministries, regional officials, health professionals and services. Social.
During the activation period of the plan, all information related to it (level of health risks, general recommendations, preventive measures, etc.) will be available on the Ministry’s website, as well as on its social media networks.
A “Temperature and Risk Level Subscription Service” will also be provided to citizens who wish to do so, through which they will be able to receive an email and/or SMS containing daily information on temperatures and health risk levels.
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