Never Ending Euro Heatwave Forces Spaniards To Push Back Dinner Even Later

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The never-ending European heatwave has forced Spaniards to push their already notoriously late dinners even further into the night, or morning.

After months of temperatures hovering in the high 30s and even creeping into the low 40s, many across the Iberian Peninsula are finding that even 10pm is simply too early to sit down for dinner.

"It's still too hot at 10," explained Ernesto Gomez.

"So now we eat at 2am." 

Ernesto says the adjustment initially felt strange, but after several weeks his family has settled into a routine of beginning dinner preparations shortly after midnight.

"You wait until about 1:30, open some wine, put something on the stove and then everyone comes over."

"It's actually quite nice."

Across Spain, restaurants have reportedly adjusted accordingly, with the traditional 9pm dinner booking increasingly viewed as something reserved for families with small children and British people.

The shift has also pushed the rest of the Spanish evening backwards, with after-dinner drinks now beginning around 4am and nightclubs reportedly struggling to attract serious crowds before sunrise.

Breakfast has now been moved to approximately midday, while lunch is now served sometime around 6pm.

Despite concerns that Spain is quickly becoming completely detached from the concept of daytime, Ernesto says the new schedule makes perfect sense.

"It's 38 degrees outside during the day. Why would I be awake?"

He then tucked himself to bed at 1pm.