Sunbathers on a beach in Barcelona today. AP AP

SPAIN AND PORTUGAL are seeing record high temperatures at the moment, hitting levels normally only reached in mid-summer, with up to 20 Spanish cities being hit by scorching temperatures.

The eastern town of Xativa recorded 42.9 degrees on Thursday, breaking a 2006 record of 40.1 degrees set at Cordoba Airport.

Portugal also set a May record, with the southern city of Beja sizzling on Wednessay in 40-degree heat.

Portugal’s previous May high was 39.5 degrees Celsius (103.1 Fahrenheit) in 2011.

The stifling heat stretched across to Spain Canary Islands in the Atlantic Ocean, where temperatures of 42.4 degrees were recorded Wednesday at Lanzarote Airport.

Any cheap flights going?

Big Train Big Train

Contains reporting by the Associated Press.

Read: 7 unbelievable things that happened in Australia’s fierce heat>

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