The climate in Portugal

Portugal is geographically divided into the European mainland and the Azores in the Atlantic Ocean. Both are about 1500 km apart, but are located at approximately the same latitude. Madeira is also in the Atlantic Ocean, but is located about 700 km further south.

Mainland Portugal

The northern regions around Porto have a maritime temperate climate, with milder temperatures, wet winters and warm summers. The Gulf Stream provides comfortable temperatures ranging from 8°C in winter to rarely hotter than 30°C in summer. South of Lisbon, the climate becomes Mediterranean. Summers are hot and dry with temperatures up to 35°C. Even in winter, the thermometer rarely falls below 15°C. With less than 45 rainy days, the Algarve is the driest and warmest part of the country on the mainland. With over 3000 hours of sunshine per year, the region attracts numerous tourists every year.

Azores

The Azores are located on the same latitude as Lisbon, but differ climatically mainly in precipitation. Due to the Atlantic influences, the climate is subtropical with significantly higher amounts of precipitation and rainy days. The temperatures are only slightly below those of Lisbon, which leads to a noticeably higher humidity. Nevertheless, it is pleasant due to the permanent ocean winds. Overall, the weather is more changeable and sea mists also occur frequently.

Madeira

Madeira is located about 700 km south of Lisbon and almost as far west of Morocco. It also has a subtropical climate and tends to be warmer than the mainland. Daytime temperatures are slightly below those of the Algarve. At night, however, it remains comparatively warm at 17°C. Compared to the Azores, however, it is much drier. The summers are almost rain-free from May to August. Only in the northern mountain regions more rain falls.

Temperature records of the last 75 years

The hottest temperature measured from 1949 to October 2024 was reported by the Evora weather station. In July 2022, the record temperature of 44.2 °C was reported here. The hottest meteorological summer from June to August, based on all 21 weather stations in Portugal below 690 meters altitude, was recorded in 1990 with an average temperature of 23.4 °C. This average temperature will normally be measured every four to six hours, thus also including the nights. Normally, this value is 22.0 degrees Celsius.

The coldest day in these 75 years was reported by the Evora weather station. Here the temperature dropped to -1.8 °C in March 2023. Evora lies at an altitude of 246 meters above sea level. The coldest winter (December to February) was in 1972 with an average temperature of 12.3 °C. In Portugal, it is usual to have about 1.4 degrees more at 13.6 °C for this three-month period.

The most precipitation fell in December 1978. With 20.1 mm per day, the Pedras Rubras weather station recorded the highest monthly average of the last 75 years. Incidentally, the region with the most rainfall for the whole year is around Flores, Acores. The driest region is near Porto Santo, Madeira.

Record months last year

We compared the record values of the past months with those of the same months in previous years. We used the same criteria to examine the respective maximum and minimum values in the categories of average temperature, precipitation, hours of sunshine and the maximum and minimum temperatures measured throughout the country. We have listed all measured values that have not been reached in Portugal for 10 or more years. However, with only 3 long-term extremes, there are remarkably few outliers in Portugal. There are far more anomalies in many other countries.

• At 23.47°C, July 2024 was the warmest July in 33 years (23.59°C in 1991).
• At 14.78°C, January 2024 was the warmest January in 69 years (15.50°C in 1955).
• At 17.18°C, November 2023 was the warmest November in 42 years (18.28°C in 1981).

The most recent months after October 2024 are not yet available here. We only calculate climatic comparisons after a large number of weather stations on a continent have checked and published their data.

Long-term development of temperatures from 1997 - 2023

In contrast to single record values, long-term development cannot simply be brought about by all weather stations in the country. Both the number and the locations are constantly changing. An average value would give a distorted result. If several measuring stations in particularly cold mountain or coastal regions are added in one year, the average would decrease as a result of this alone. If a station fails during the summer or winter months, it does not provide any values and distorts the average again. The subsequent long-term development was therefore reduced to only 1 measuring points in order to have comparable data over as long a period as possible.

In the years 1997 to 2023, there were only these 1 weather stations in the whole country, which reported continuous temperature values (Castelo Branco). From these weather reports, we have created a long-term development that shows the monthly average temperatures. The hottest month in this entire period was July 2022 at 28.6 °C. January 2000 was the coldest month with an average temperature of 5.9 °C.

The average annual temperature was about 15.6 °C in the years after 1997 and about 16.5 °C in the last years before 2023. So in less than 27 years, it has increased by about 0.9 °C. This trend only applies to the selected 1 weather stations in Portugal. A considerably more comprehensive evaluation of global warming has been provided separately.

Data basis and methodology

The data from the individual measuring stations are based on the archives of the German Weather Service, individual values averaged and supplemented by own elements. In order to determine a representative national average, average values were first calculated for each part of the country, which were then summarized at the national level. Thus, if a disproportionate number of weather stations are located in a small area, their number does not affect the national average.