First, let’s take a look at the weather in the Azores in general. People don’t come to the Azores for the sunshine. It isn’t that kind of archipelago. In fact the conditions are not unlike the UK’s weather, even though the climate in the Azores is officially described as ‘subtropical oceanic’ and almost always steers well clear of freezing.
Like Europe, the best time to visit the Azores is in the summer, the best time of all being through July and August, the sunniest months of the Azorean holiday season. Because the climate is influenced by the vast ocean surrounding the islands the water doesn’t warm up as fast as it can in other places, leaving the June conditions on land and at sea a little bit chilly and cloudy.
In July and August the warmth is pleasant, the sun shines frequently and there’s not as much risk of rain. At the other end of the summer, September is actually a bit warmer than June, which means it’s classed as summer in the islands even though the risk of rain rises a little bit.
All this means a trip to the Azores in the height of summer can be changeable, sometimes damp. If you visit in winter you’ll need the sort of clothes you wear in a UK spring or autumn. In summer you’ll want to bring lighter clothes plus a few warmer things just in case, plus a light waterproof. If there’s any chance at all you’ll be climbing volcanoes or hiking jungle trails, tough trainers, walking shoes or boots are a must.
As you’d expect, the higher you climb the lower the temperature gets. These are mountainous islands created by volcanic violence. The highest peak is Mount Pico, on the island of the same name, more than 2351 above sea level at the summit. There’s never a lot of sun way up there and the top is often shrouded in cloud. It rains a lot on the mountain and in winter and spring you might even get a dusting of snow on the peak.
Being at the same latitude as central and southern Portugal but far out at sea, one thing’s for sure – overall, it’s a lot cooler than the mainland. So let’s explore the Azores weather in a bit more detail, so you know exactly what to expect.
Details about the Azores weather
The first things to say is this: every island has its own microclimate. The islands are split into three groups, the eastern islands, the central islands, and the western islands, along with outliers like Terceira and Graciosa.
While, as we mentioned, the overall climate in the archipelago is subtropical oceanic, with pleasantly warm summers and cool, rainy and windy the rest of the time, you’ll find slight differences between the groups of islands and the islands in each group.
October to April is when there’s very little sunshine and it can be cloudy for days on end, hiding the uplands and masking the peaks of the volcanoes and mountains. An average of 1700 hours or 71 days of sunshine a year for the north western islands and 1900 hours or 79 days a year for the south eastern islands is about right. But bear in mind that isn’t necessarily days when it’s sunny all the time. Just hours of sunshine spread out randomly over the year.
From July to September the ocean is a bit chilly, perfect if you’re a fan of exhilarating wild swimming but not good is you’re sensitive to the cold. In July it’s around 22C in the water, rising to 23C or so throughout August and September.
Ponta Delgada, the capital city of the islands, is a prime holiday destination on the south coast of the island of São Miguel with average temperatures from 14C or so in February and March to 22C in August. In winter the average temperatures range from 13C at night to 18C during the day. In summer they range from 18C at night to 26C during the day. You’re most likely to see reliable temperatures of 20C or more between June and October.
You might have noticed there isn’t always a lot of variation between day and night. That’s because the islands are a long way from the mainland and an equally long way from the North Pole, which means you never really get the extremes of cold and heat that we see elsewhere. The winter sees cold air coming all the way from frigid Canada, having crossed the Atlantic to reach the islands. This can make the north western islands of Flores and Corvo a bit chillier than the rest in winter.
These days we regularly get summer temperatures exceeding 30C in the UK, but the record breaker in the Azores lies at around 30C, a climate anomaly that hit during August 2010 and 2011. It’s very unusual to see the temperatures plummet below 7C in winter, although most islands have at one time or another seen temperatures as low as 3C around the coast. But it hasn’t gone as low as 2C since January 1985 when it became unusually chilly on Flores.
The high pressure anticyclone delivering great weather to western Europe and the Med is named after the islands despite the fact that they’re not always sunny. The Azores High delivers frequent rain in autumn and winter on some of the islands and constant abundant rain on others. And it can get very windy indeed, reaching storm levels between November and March.
All this is what makes the landscapes so green. It’s unusually green and fertile here. In spring the islands are smothered in gorgeous flowers, most of all on the aptly-named most western island of Flores, which translates as ‘flowers’. But the rain also varies by island. There’s less than 75cm of rain in total per year on Santa Maria, the most southerly island, but it can soar to more than 90cm a year on São Miguel and more than 1m a year on the other islands. In summer there’s a lot less rain but you can expect it to rain 5-7 days per month even in the height of the tourist season – you just have to hope it doesn’t all fall while you’re there!
Do hurricanes ever hit the Azores?
Yes, there are occasional hurricanes, but only now and again thanks to ocean-weakened tropical cyclones that make their way here across the chilly Atlantic. Most of the time they miss the Azores by miles, instead heading for the Caribbean then veering north east. Now and again one arrives from the south, heading to the Azores via Cape Verde.
You’re most likely to see a hurricane between September and October. In September 1899 the Great Bahamas hurricane blasted São Miguel. Hurricane Carrie arrived in September 1957, Debbie in September 1961, Emmy in September 1976 and two – Bonnie and Charley – in 1992, arriving within days of one another. Tanya in November 1995, Gordon in 2006, a second Gordon in 2012, Alex in 2016, Ophelia in 2017 and Lorenzo in 2019 complete the hurricane picture.
On the bright side, as you can tell, it doesn’t happen often. On the downside, hurricanes seem to be happening more often in the Azores as time passes, no doubt because of climate change.
Ready, steady go
The weather in the Azoires will probably make you feel right at home! As long as you’ve got the right clothing you’ll have the adventure of a lifetime in comfort exploring these utterly spectacular islands.
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