Time for sunscreen: Temperatures soar in Iberian peninsula heat wave, breaking May records

People sunbathe in a beach in Barcelona, Spain, Friday, May 15, 2015. The Iberian Peninsula has experienced record high temperatures for May as thermometers shot up to levels normally only seen in midsummer. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti) (The Associated Press)

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A woman sunbathes in a beach in Barcelona, Spain, Friday, May 15, 2015. The Iberian Peninsula has experienced record high temperatures for May as thermometers shot up to levels normally only seen in midsummer. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti) (The Associated Press)

People sunbathe in a public park in Barcelona, Spain, Friday, May 15, 2015. The Iberian Peninsula has experienced record high temperatures for May as thermometers shot up to levels normally only seen in midsummer. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti) (The Associated Press)

MADRID – Spain and Portugal — known for their sunny skies — are seeing record high temperatures for May, with thermometers hitting levels normally only seen in midsummer.

Spain's meteorological agency says the eastern town of Xativa recorded 42.9 degrees Celsius (109.2 Fahrenheit) on Thursday, breaking a 2006 record of 40.1 degrees Celsius (104.2 Fahrenheit) at Cordoba Airport.

Portugal also set a May record, with the southern city of Beja sizzling Wednesday in 40 degrees Celsius heat. Portugal's previous May high was 39.5 degrees Celsius (103.1 Fahrenheit) in 2011.

The stifling heat stretched across to Spain's Canary Islands in the Atlantic Ocean, where temperatures of 42.4 degrees Celsius (108.3 Fahrenheit) were recorded Wednesday at Lanzarote Airport.

The town of Pego in Spain's eastern Alicante region was also fighting a wildfire Friday.