🇪🇸Spain

Spain extends from 27°38′ to 43°47′N, occupying approximately 85 percent of the Iberian Peninsula plus the Balearic Islands in the Mediterranean, the Canary Islands off the African coast, and the North African enclaves of Ceuta and Melilla. The interior is dominated by the elevated Meseta Central at 600 to 800 m, ringed by the Pyrenees with Aneto at 3,404 m, the Cantabrian Mountains, Iberian System, Sierra Morena, and Sistema Central, plus the Sierra Nevada rising to peninsular Spain's highest peak Mulhacén at 3,479 m and Teide on Tenerife at 3,715 m, the highest in all Spanish territory.

This topographic complexity produces extraordinary climate diversity: oceanic Cfb on the green Cantabrian coast encompassing Bilbao, Santander, and Galicia; hot Mediterranean Csa across the eastern and southern coasts including Barcelona and Málaga, with hot semi-arid BSh around Valencia and Murcia; cool Mediterranean Csb on the higher northern Meseta around Burgos; cold semi-arid BSk grading into hot Mediterranean Csa around Madrid, and BSk in the central plain, the Ebro valley in Aragón, southern Navarre, and La Mancha; hot semi-arid BSh grading into hot desert BWh in southeastern Almería, home to the Tabernas Desert, often called Europe's only desert; and mostly hot desert BWh to hot semi-arid BSh in the Canary Islands.

Madrid on the central Meseta sees January highs of 10°C with nights of 3°C and July highs of 33°C with 420 mm of rainfall concentrated from autumn to spring. Barcelona on the Mediterranean coast records January highs of 14°C (nights 6°C) and July highs of 28°C with 560 mm, while Bilbao in the oceanic north shows 14°C (nights 5°C) and 25°C with 1,160 mm.

Seville in the Guadalquivir basin is the hottest major city, with January highs of 16°C and nights of 6°C, July highs of 36°C and summer maxima often exceeding 40°C; the national record of 47.6°C was set at La Rambla in Córdoba province on 14 August 2021, following 47.3°C at Montoro in July 2017.

Cádiz displays mild Atlantic influence with January highs of 16°C (nights 10°C) and August highs of 28°C, Almería remains semi-arid with 17°C (nights 9°C) and 31°C on only 200 mm, and Santa Cruz de Tenerife enjoys subtropical warmth at 21°C (nights 16°C) and 29°C. The Sierra Nevada peaks host one of Europe's most southerly ski resorts; the Corral del Veleta glacier there, once Europe's southernmost, disappeared in 1913. Major climate events include the 2003 European heatwave with temperatures above 40°C in parts of Spain, the 2017 wildfires, the 2022 Iberian heatwave reaching 47°C, the 2023 Andalucía drought, and the October 2024 Valencia DANA flash floods.

Our archive covers 91 Spanish cities with daily ERA5 reanalysis data going back to 1940. The hottest July afternoons are in Córdoba, with average highs around 36.2°C, while León has the coldest January nights, with average lows near 0.5°C. Comparing the last decade against the 1940–1970 baseline, mean temperatures across these cities have risen by about 1.8°C.