🇵🇹Portugal

Portugal extends from 37° to 42°N on the western edge of the Iberian Peninsula, plus the Atlantic archipelagos of Madeira and the Azores (about 92,000 km² in total). The mainland spans dramatic climatic gradients: warm-summer Mediterranean Csb in the green Minho northwest with Braga and Porto receiving over 1,200 mm annually; hot-summer Mediterranean Csa across the interior Alentejo, the Douro Valley, and southern Algarve with Lisbon, Évora, and Faro; warm-summer Mediterranean Csb on the central Atlantic coast around Coimbra; and small semi-arid BSk enclaves inland.

The Serra da Estrela rises to 1,993 m at Torre, continental Portugal's highest point, sustaining a ski resort and occasional winter snow. Madeira (subtropical Mediterranean Csa) and the Azores (mild subtropical, Cfa to Csa) lie about 800 km and 1,400 km offshore, experiencing mild year-round temperatures with rainfall concentrated in winter.

Lisbon sees January highs of 15°C with nights near 9°C and July highs of 28°C with 770 mm concentrated in the October–April rainy season, though summers remain nearly dry. Porto in the humid north records highs of 14°C and 24°C, with nights of 6°C and 16°C, and 1,240 mm. Faro on the southern Algarve coast shows highs of 16°C and 29°C, with nights of 8°C and 20°C, and only 455 mm, nearly as little as the driest inland parts of the Alentejo.

Évora in the interior Alentejo sees 5°C winter lows and 33°C July highs with a record high of 45.4°C; the national temperature record of about 47.3–47.4°C was set at Amareleja in the Alentejo on 1 August 2003, and Pinhão in the Douro Valley set the July record of 47.0°C on 14 July 2022. Funchal (Madeira) remains subtropical with highs of about 20°C in winter and 25–27°C in summer, with roughly 575–820 mm, while Ponta Delgada (Azores) stays mild with winter highs around 17°C and summer highs of 25–26°C, with 1,020 mm.

Portugal has experienced significant climate events including the June 2017 Pedrógão Grande wildfire (66 deaths), October 2017 fires (45 deaths), the 2003 heatwave, the 2017 fire season (over 500,000 hectares), the July 2022 heatwave record, and the 2017 and 2022 droughts.

Our archive covers 10 Portuguese cities with daily ERA5 reanalysis data going back to 1940. The hottest July afternoons are in Coimbra, with average highs around 27.7°C, while Viseu has the coldest January nights, with average lows near 3.8°C. Comparing the last decade against the 1940–1970 baseline, mean temperatures across these cities have risen by about 0.9°C.