Madeira Weather by Month: Coast Figures and the Mountain Gap

The Station and the Thirty-Year Normal

The figures on this page come from IPMA station 522 in Funchal, at 58 metres above sea level. The averaging period is 1991 to 2020.

A thirty-year normal is the average of three decades of observations. It describes what the climate at that spot usually does. It is not a forecast and it does not say what any given day next month will bring. It also describes only the coast at Funchal, at near sea level, so it says nothing directly about a hillside at 800 metres.

Over the whole year the station averages a high of 22.9°C (73°F), a low of 17.0°C (63°F), a mean of 20.0°C, 574.3 mm of rain across 53.4 rain days, 104.1 days reaching 25°C or more and 2.5 days reaching 30°C or more.

Extremes and Frost

The station record shows the range the coast can produce. The highest temperature on record at the station is 38.2°C (101°F), set on 9 August 2016. The lowest is 8.5°C (47°F), set on 15 March 2011. The wettest single day delivered 158.6 mm of rain on 26 November 2010.

Frost is absent from the record entirely. The normal lists zero frost days in every month of the year at Funchal. Coastal Madeira does not freeze in a typical year, which is why walking outside after dinner in December is a normal local habit.

IPMA Publishes Nothing for the Mountains

IPMA's climate normal station lists for 1971-2000, 1981-2010 and 1991-2020 hold only two stations in the whole Madeira archipelago: Funchal station 522 and Porto Santo station 524. There is no mountain station and no north-coast station in any of the three periods.

That means no official temperature or rainfall figure exists for Pico do Arieiro at 1,818 m or Pico Ruivo at 1,862 m, and none for Santana, the Paul da Serra plateau or any other upland spot. This page prints no summit temperature, and no other figure for the peaks, because to do so would be to invent a number that no official source contains. A precise summit average, wherever you read one, did not come from IPMA.

What To Do With That

Treat the Funchal figure in the table as the warm end of your day, not the whole day. For Pico do Arieiro and Pico Ruivo, pack layers and a rain jacket whatever the coastal forecast says.

Check the IFCN register and trail notices before walking, because closures are announced independently of the weather. The practicalities are in trail fees and booking. IFCN closed the PR1 section from Pedra Rija to Pico Ruivo on announced works days including 14-17 and 21-22 September 2026. Separately, the forest road from Eira do Serrado to Pico do Areeiro closes on 4 October 2026 from 07:55 to 10:08 for a rally stage.

If your plan is a summit sunrise, the Pico do Arieiro sunrise tour times the transfer to the light. Cloud decides if the sun shows at all, and no average predicts that.

Sunrise and Sunset at the Peak, Month by Month

The table below gives sunrise and sunset for Pico do Arieiro on the 15th of each month, computed by us with the NOAA solar formulas for the peak's coordinates against a sea-level horizon, shown in local clock time. Use it to time a sunrise walk or a late hike. Cloud, not the clock, decides what you see.

Winter, December to February

Winter is the wettest stretch of the year at the coast. December averages 94.8 mm of rain over 8.6 rain days, the highest rain-day count of any month, and February follows with 72.4 mm. Highs hold at 20.0°C (68°F) in January and dip only to 19.9°C (68°F) in February, the coolest month.

Nights fall to 13.9°C (57°F) on average in February. Days of 25°C or more are almost unknown, at 0.0 to 0.4 a month, and nights staying at 20°C or above average 0.1 or fewer. Heavy rain does arrive: December averages 3.5 days with 10 mm or more.

Christmas lights across Funchal run from 1 December, so the season carries a full event programme despite the showers.

Spring, March to May

Spring dries out steadily. March still records 62.3 mm, April drops to 45.2 mm and May reaches 27.2 mm over just 3.3 rain days. Highs climb from 20.6°C (69°F) to 22.0°C (72°F), and nights lift from 14.3°C (58°F) to 16.2°C (61°F).

Hot days are rare, with 0.9 to 1.1 days at 25°C or more per month. Heavy rain days fall away to 0.8 in May. The Flower Festival fills late April and May, by which point the daily risk of a washout is falling.

On the figures alone, May gives the most settled weather without July heat, which is our reading rather than a published ranking. Dates are on Madeira events.

Summer, June to August

Summer is the dry season by a wide margin. June records 7.8 mm, July 1.7 mm and August 1.3 mm, with 0.3 to 1.0 rain days a month. Heat builds too: July averages 18.6 days at 25°C or more and August 28.0, and August averages 23.4 tropical nights staying at 20°C or above.

Highs peak at 26.8°C (80°F) in August. Days of 30°C or more remain rare across the year, only 2.5 on average, so the coast bakes gently rather than fiercely. This is the window the beaches suit best, our reading of the rain figures, and the Atlantic Festival brings fireworks over Funchal bay through June.

Pack for warm evenings rather than afternoon storms.

Autumn, September to November

Autumn splits in two. September keeps summer's warmth, averaging 26.6°C (80°F), 26.6 days at 25°C or more and 20.6 tropical nights, yet rain jumps to 23.1 mm as the dry spell breaks. October and November turn wet, with 91.2 mm and 80.3 mm and 7.0 to 7.3 rain days.

October still averages 3.0 days with 10 mm or more, and 18.1 days reach 25°C or more, so warm and wet can share a day. Highs slide from 25.2°C (77°F) to 22.8°C (73°F). The Madeira Wine Festival runs into mid-September and the Nature Festival follows in October, so the first half of autumn pairs festival energy with rising rain risk.

Who Says What About the Water

No official IPMA sea temperature normal was found for Madeira, so there is no published monthly series to table here. Two municipal sources do give round figures.

The Machico municipality's tourism site states that sea water averages 22°C in summer and 18°C in winter, a picture that applies to the east coast around Machico. Porto Moniz council states an average annual water temperature of 20-21°C at its natural volcanic pools on the north coast, the swimming spot that anchors any visit to Porto Moniz.

In practice, the south coast lidos are where most visitors swim. The municipal bathing complexes run by Frente MarFunchal, Praia Formosa among them, open 09:00-19:00 daily in the 16-30 September period. Treat all of these as local statements rather than a verified island-wide series, and as a guide to what a swim feels like rather than a reading for your date.

Funchal Against Porto Santo, Year by Year

Porto Santo is a touch cooler overall and clearly drier. Its average high across the year is 21.6°C (71°F) against Funchal's 22.9°C (73°F), and its warmest month, August, reaches only 25.7°C (78°F) against Funchal's 26.8°C (80°F). The striking contrast is rain: Porto Santo collects 381.7 mm a year against Funchal's 574.3 mm.

The rain-day figure flips the intuition. Porto Santo records 61.6 days with 1 mm or more against Funchal's 53.4, so it gets less rain in total but spreads it over slightly more days. The heavy-rain counts point the same way. Porto Santo averages 9.6 days a year with 10 mm or more against Funchal's 18.4, so its rain arrives in smaller amounts spread over more days. A day trip by ferry pairs with the Porto Santo 4x4 highlights tour once you are on the island, and our Porto Santo guide covers the crossing and the fares.

Bookings That Move With the Weather

Tours handle rain differently, and the operator listings say so directly.

- The east tour's listing notes that Pico do Arieiro can be under cloud when you arrive, so a grey summit is a known outcome rather than a cancelled one. - The West Madeira Waterfalls and Fanal Forest tour runs come rain or shine, per the operator. - The ecological catamaran whale watching trip is cancelled if conditions are unsafe, with an alternative date or a full refund offered. - Canyoning runs rain or shine per the operator, which makes sense, since the activity is already about water. The level 2 descent near Curral das Freiras is this canyoning trip.

Trail bookings follow a stricter rule. IFCN refunds a trail booking only when the authorities officially closed or restricted the trail on the booking date. Bad weather alone, or a personal change of plan, does not qualify. When rain does trap you in Funchal, rainy day in Madeira lists what actually works indoors.

Reading the Rain Figures Honestly

The Funchal normal gives 53.4 rain days a year, concentrated in October to December, and under 2 mm total in July and August. A rain day means 1 mm or more, which can be a passing shower rather than a washout. The wetter months average 6 to 8.6 such days a month, so most days even in November stay dry.

Plan outdoor mornings in the wet season, keep an indoor fallback for the afternoon, and check the trail register before driving anywhere near the peaks.

Where To Get Tomorrow

A thirty-year normal cannot say what tomorrow brings. For current forecasts and weather warnings for Madeira and Porto Santo, use IPMA, Portugal's national weather service, which issues both for the region: IPMA. Check it the evening before any mountain walk, because the peaks are not described by the Funchal record at all.