Weather in Portugal

It's important to get informed about Portugal, the climate and the weather, before one consider buyinga property in Portugal.

Portugal is a small country. Mainland Portugal distances are only 560 km from north to south and 220 km east to west. The Atlantic archipelagos of Madeira and the Azores are also part of Portugal.

Weather in Portugal - on the mainland

Mainland Portugals southerly latitude gives Portugal a Mediterranean type of climate. The Atlantic Ocean influence the summer heat temperature, to comfortable warm weather on the western coast, and makes the winters particularly mild. The southern coast of the Algarve is the sunniest, driest, and warmest part of the country - but the summer heat rarely reaches the unpleasant levels sometimes found in southeastern Spain. Winter is the wet season in Portugal.

In the interior regions of Centro and Norte there are mountains and plateaux - rising over 1.800 meters in places - where summers are much cooler and winters may be quite cold and may even bring snow on the highest mountain peaks and higher areas of the north. Autumn rain can sometimes be heavy in the north as the fine weather of summer breaks.

Most parts of Portugal are sunny. Daily hours of sunshine in the Algarve average from five to six in winter and eleven to twelve in summer. These figures will be about one hour less in the north of Portugal.

Weather in Portugal - at the Azores

The Azores consist of a group of nine main islands (and eight formigas) situated about 1.500 km west of Lisbon. All the islands are hilly or mountainous, with peaks rising to between 600-2.300 meters.

The Azores have a very mild climate throughout the year with no great extremes of temperature. Summer days are warm, but never hot. Winter weather can be stormy and changeable, but frost and snow is unknown at sea level. Rainfall is well distributed around the year. Sunshine range from an average of seven to eight hours a day in summer, and three to four hours a day in winter.

Weather in Portugal - on Madeira Islands

Madeira consists of the two inhabited islands and several small uninhabited islands, situated about 861km west of Lisbon. The main island of Madeira is volcanic and mountainous, with its highest peaks rising to over 1.800 meters.

The climate of Madeira is similar to that found around the Mediterranean, but the island never suffers extremes of heat or cold. The weather is mild winters and generally warm, sunny summers. There is little cloudy weather from May until September but occasional light rain may fall and fog can occur. Madeira has a sunny climate with an average of seven to eight hours sunshine a day in summer, and five to six hours sunshine a day in winter.

Weather in Portugal - and winemaking

The sunny weather in Portugal, combined with warm winter climate are two of the reasons why Portugal is one of the leading wine producers in the world. Eight percent of the continental land is dedicated to vineyards, and two of Portugals regions are protected by UNESCO as World Heritage wine-making-regions. Read more about Portuguese wine here.