Warmest Places in Europe in Winter: December to February, Ranked

Which place in Europe is warmest in winter?

The Canary Islands, with Madeira the only place close behind. In our eleven-year data the Las Palmas point, on the north-east coast of Gran Canaria, has an average high of 21° in December and 20° in January and February, with nights that stay at 14° to 16°. The south coasts of Gran Canaria and Tenerife are more sheltered and usually run a degree or two warmer. We have no data point there, so every figure below uses Las Palmas. The Canaries are Spanish, but they sit off the coast of Africa, not on the European mainland. Only Madeira comes close, with highs of 18° to 20° and nights of 14° to 15°, about a degree below the Canaries. Every other place we track has winter highs of 18° or less and no winter low above 13°.

Here are all 14 places for January, the coldest month, warmest first. The ranking below uses the whole of December to February, but January is where the order is hardest on you:

A few honest limits. This is Europe in winter, not Southeast Asia. The best days in the Canaries are comfortable in a T-shirt, and nowhere on the continent is swimming weather. For warm sea and 30-degree days, see where is warm in January or where is warm in December. We hold no data for Malta, the Algarve, Sicily or Gibraltar, so they are not ranked here; we would rather leave a gap than guess.

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Ranked: the warmest places in Europe in winter

Ranked by average daytime high across December to February, with nights and rain days beside it:

1. Canary Islands (Las Palmas): highs of 20° to 21°, lows 14° to 16°, rain on 5 to 6 days a month. The only place on the list that feels like early summer on a good day. See Canary Islands in January and Canary Islands weather by month.
2. Madeira: highs of 18° to 20° and the warmest nights outside the Canaries (14° to 15°). Rain on 5 to 8 days a month. See best time to visit Madeira.
3. Málaga: highs of 17° to 18° and milder nights than Seville (9° to 11°). Rain on about 3 to 5 days. See Málaga weather in winter.
4. Seville: highs of 16° to 18°, February the warmest, but nights as low as 6° in January. Rain on about 3 to 4 days a month.
5. Cyprus: highs of 16° to 18°. December is the warmest but also the wettest, at 111 mm.
6. Valencia: highs of 16° to 17° and the driest of the lot, with rain on only about 2 to 3 days a month. Nights of 7° to 8°.
7. Crete: highs of 16° to 17°, with rain on about 7 to 9 days a month.
8. Lisbon: highs of 15° to 16°, rain on about 5 to 7 days a month. See best time to visit Lisbon.

Santorini, Antalya, Barcelona, Porto, Rome and Athens fall below these. Antalya is on the Asian side of Turkey; we include it because winter-sun lists often do.

How much does it rain, really?

Temperature is half of winter. A mild month that rains one day in three is a different month from a cool one that rains one day in twenty. A rain day here is a day with at least two millimetres, so drizzle does not count.

The Canaries and the Spanish mainland are the dry end. The Canaries get the least rain by volume, 15 to 29 mm a month over 5 to 6 light days. Valencia and Barcelona have rain on about 2 to 5 days a month, Seville and Málaga about 3 to 5. The Atlantic coast is the wet end: Porto has rain on 9 to 13 days a month and 101 to 168 mm. Antalya, which looks warm on postcards, collects 266 mm in December and 253 mm in January, far more than any other place here. We do not hold sunshine hours, so we do not quote them. In our cloud data, Cyprus, Spain and the Canaries are the least cloudy in winter, and Madeira, Porto and Lisbon the most.

Which of these are good for working?

Our take, on weather alone:

• Canary Islands: the best all-round pick. Warm enough to work on a terrace most days, little rain, no cold evenings. The trap is wind and which side of the island you pick: Las Palmas is on the cloudier north-east side, and the south coasts are usually sunnier.
• Málaga: the best mainland base. Pleasant by day, but with January lows of 9° you still want heating in the flat.
• Seville: dry and bright, but nights drop to 6° in January and many older Spanish flats have little or no central heating. A good winter for the café, a poor one for the flat.
• Valencia and Barcelona: dry and bright with short days, but cooler. Fine for a working month, not a sun month.
• Madeira: mild nights, but the island is steep and wet in the mountains, with several times the Canaries' rain.
• Lisbon and Porto: popular with remote workers, but cool and wet in winter. Plan on indoor days and heating costs.
• Cyprus and Crete: mild, but rainy in December and January.

Short winter days apply everywhere, so even in the Canaries the working day finishes in the dark.

What are the traps?

• Confusing "mild" with "warm". Most lists call 17° warm because it is warm for Europe. It is a light-jacket day, not a beach day.
• Cold nights and flats without heating. Southern Europe is built for summer. Look at the lows, not just the highs.
• Postcard places that rain. Antalya and Porto are the clearest cases above.
• Booking the wrong month. Cyprus is driest in February, not December.

So where should you go?

• The warmest winter in Europe, with the least rain by volume: the Canary Islands.
• A mainland base with trains and Central European time: Málaga, then Seville.
• An island with steady nights: Madeira, and accept more rain than the Canaries.
• Actual beach weather: it does not exist in Europe in winter. Look at Cape Verde, Goa or the Caribbean.