ClimavisoBad weather in Madrid
Updated 26 October 2026. Averages for 2019–2025; 2026 up to 26 October 2026.
Madrid doesn't do tropical storms or coastal gales. Its bad weather has two faces: a summer that squeezes for weeks on end and, once in a while, a winter that remembers the city sits 650 metres up.
65
warning days a year
Spain: 54
16
orange or red warning days
a year
5
red days
2019–2025
#58
of 182 zones
1 = most warnings
For most of the year, Madrid is quiet as far as warnings go. Then July and August arrive and the calendar fills with yellow: heat is by far the most common reason for a warning in the capital, with summer storms a distant second.
Winter is another story: few warnings, but memorable ones. Storm Filomena, in January 2021, left Madrid on red for snow two days running and then on red for cold. Since then, nobody in the city rules snow out.
Madrid has 3,506,730 inhabitants and sits in the Metropolitana y Henares warning zone (Madrid). Warnings are issued for the whole zone: it shares them with 32 other towns, such as Móstoles, Alcalá de Henares and Leganés.
Madrid's warning zone and its neighbours
AEMET doesn't warn by city but by zone: Madrid gets the warnings for the Metropolitana y Henares zone, outlined on the map. The zones around it have their own thresholds and their own warnings.
Average warning days a year, 2019–2025, against the median of Spain's zones (54 days). Tap a zone to go to its page.
- Metropolitana y Henares (Madrid's zone): 65 days a year
- Sierra de San Vicente: 53 days a year
- La Mancha toledana: 53 days a year
- Alcarria conquense: 54 days a year
- Alcarria de Guadalajara: 57 days a year
- Valle del Tajo: 58 days a year
- Meseta de Segovia: 60 days a year
- Sur de Ávila: 63 days a year
- La Mancha conquense: 67 days a year
- Serranía de Guadalajara: 68 days a year
- Sur, Vegas y Oeste: 70 days a year
- Sistema Central de Ávila: 73 days a year
- Sistema Central de Segovia: 74 days a year
- Sierra de Madrid: 78 days a year
Madrid's bad-weather fingerprint
Each axis compares the warning days a year in Madrid's zone with the average of Spain's 182 zones. The dashed circle is the average zone; the edge, three times the average or more.
More warnings than the average zone: heat (2.3×) and cold (1.9×).
Fewer than average: snow, wind and rain.
Averages for 2019–2025. It measures how often AEMET issued warnings, not danger or damage.
The year, month by month
Warning days in each month, averaged over 2019–2025, by the day's highest level.
Every day since 2019
Each line is one year in Madrid, January to December, and each mark a day with a warning in its zone: you can see at a glance when bad weather bunches up and which years were calmer.
The colour is each day's highest level. 2026: up to 26 October 2026. Hover or tap a mark to see the dates.
Which warnings, in which months
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rain | 0.1 | 0.3 | 0.9 | 1.9 | 2.7 | 0.1 | 1.6 | 3.4 | 1.7 | 0.3 | 0.3 | |
| Storms | 1.1 | 2.0 | 4.0 | 1.4 | 2.4 | 2.9 | 0.3 | 0.1 | ||||
| Wind | 0.7 | 0.3 | 0.7 | 0.3 | 0.4 | 0.1 | 0.4 | 1.6 | 0.9 | 0.6 | ||
| Heat | 0.4 | 5.9 | 16 | 14 | 0.3 | |||||||
| Cold | 5.6 | 0.7 | 0.4 | 0.4 | ||||||||
| Snow | 0.4 | 0.3 | 0.3 | |||||||||
| Fog | 0.4 | 0.3 | 0.4 |
Warning days of each type and month, yearly average 2019–2025. A day with rain and storms counts in both rows.
Month by month, in detail
January
3 red days since 20197.3 warning days on average (1.6 orange or red). Mostly: cold and wind.
February
The quietest month1.0 warning days on average. Mostly: cold and wind.
March
1.6 warning days on average. Mostly: wind and cold.
April
1.4 warning days on average. Mostly: storms and rain.
May
2.9 warning days on average (0.3 orange or red). Mostly: storms and rain.
June
8.9 warning days on average (2.4 orange or red). Mostly: heat and storms.
July
The busiest month16 warning days on average (5.3 orange or red). Mostly: heat and storms.
August
1 red day since 201916 warning days on average (4.7 orange or red). Mostly: heat and storms.
September
1 red day since 20194.0 warning days on average (1.3 orange or red). Mostly: rain and storms.
October
2.7 warning days on average (0.6 orange or red). Mostly: rain and wind.
November
1.7 warning days on average. Mostly: wind and rain.
December
1.7 warning days on average (0.3 orange or red). Mostly: wind and cold.
The best month to go (if you'd rather not see warnings)
Counting warning days and how serious they are, the quietest months in Madrid are February and April: 1.0 and 1.4 warning days on average. The busiest is July, with 16.
April also tends to skip February's chill.
Summers: the heat
Madrid has 36 heat-warning days a year (12 of them orange or red). Yellow starts at a forecast high of 36 °C; orange at 39 °C; red at 42 °C.
The heat-warning season usually runs from 22 June to 27 August. The earliest one came on 19 May; the latest, on 18 September.
Red heat days since 2019: 9 August 2023.
In Madrid the heat warning is a summer ritual: it comes, it stays, it leaves and it comes back. If you're moving here, the question isn't whether July will bring warnings, but how many.
Winters: cold, snow and wind
Winter (December to February) brings 10 warning days on average: rain (0.4), wind (1.6), cold (6.7), snow (0.4) and fog (0.9).
The yellow cold warning starts at lows of −4 °C; red, at −12 °C. Snow, at 2 cm in 24 hours.
Red cold or snow days since 2019: 8 January 2021, 9 January 2021 and 12 January 2021.
Filomena (8 and 9 January 2021) is why January ranks so high in the chart: a single episode weighs on a seven-year average.
Rain and storms
Madrid has 13 rain-warning days and 14 storm-warning days a year. The months with the most rain warnings are September, June and May.
Here the yellow rain warning starts at 15 mm in an hour or 40 mm in 12 hours; red, at 60 mm or 120 mm.
Red rain or storm days since 2019: 3 September 2023.
Wind, fog and coast
Wind warnings: 6.0 days a year; yellow starts at gusts of 70 km/h.
Fog: 1.1 days a year, always yellow (fog has no higher level).
Year by year
| Year | Warning days | Orange | Red | Mostly |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026* | 81 | 20 | 0 | heat and storms |
| 2025 | 63 | 21 | 0 | heat and storms |
| 2024 | 59 | 14 | 0 | heat and rain |
| 2023 | 79 | 21 | 2 | heat and rain |
| 2022 | 60 | 16 | 0 | heat and rain |
| 2021 | 55 | 13 | 3 | heat and rain |
| 2020 | 72 | 14 | 0 | heat and storms |
| 2019 | 69 | 11 | 0 | heat and cold |
2026, up to 26 October 2026. For the same stretch of the year, the 2019–2025 average is 61 days.
The year with the most warnings was 2023, with 79 days.
The worst days
Every red day since June 2018:
- 3 September 2023 rain
- 9 August 2023 heat
- 12 January 2021 cold
- 9 January 2021 snow
- 8 January 2021 snow
The longest run of consecutive warning days lasted 25 days, from 20 July 2022 to 13 August 2022.
When a warning is issued in Madrid
| Yellow | Orange | Red | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Heat (high) | 36 °C | 39 °C | 42 °C |
| Cold (low) | −4 °C | −8 °C | −12 °C |
| Wind (gusts) | 70 km/h | 90 km/h | 130 km/h |
| Rain in 1 hour | 15 mm | 30 mm | 60 mm |
| Rain in 12 hours | 40 mm | 80 mm | 120 mm |
| Snow in 24 hours | 2 cm | 5 cm | 20 cm |
Thresholds for the Metropolitana y Henares zone in AEMET's warning plan. Storms have no numeric threshold: yellow for strong storms, orange for very strong ones. More in what each colour means.
Madrid compared with other cities
| City | Warning days a year | Orange or red a year | Red days since 2019 | Mostly |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lleida | 92 | 17 | 9 | heat and storms |
| Zaragoza | 89 | 22 | 20 | heat and storms |
| Cuenca | 85 | 14 | 3 | heat and storms |
| Soria | 85 | 9.1 | 1 | storms and rain |
| Teruel | 84 | 11 | 4 | storms and rain |
| Albacete | 83 | 14 | 7 | heat and storms |
| Palma | 78 | 15 | 1 | rain and storms |
| Huesca | 77 | 12 | 0 | storms and rain |
| Segovia | 74 | 8.0 | 0 | storms and wind |
| Córdoba | 73 | 29 | 15 | heat and rain |
| Ávila | 73 | 7.1 | 4 | rain and wind |
| Sevilla | 69 | 23 | 12 | heat and rain |
| Pamplona | 68 | 15 | 6 | storms and rain |
| Ibiza | 67 | 13 | 2 | rain and wind |
| Girona | 66 | 10 | 4 | rain and storms |
| Madrid | 65 | 16 | 5 | heat and storms |
| Valladolid | 65 | 9.0 | 0 | heat and storms |
| Burgos | 64 | 6.6 | 1 | storms and rain |
| Zamora | 63 | 7.1 | 0 | heat and storms |
| Palencia | 59 | 5.6 | 0 | storms and rain |
| Jaén | 59 | 25 | 7 | heat and rain |
| Salamanca | 59 | 6.4 | 0 | heat and storms |
| Toledo | 58 | 20 | 5 | heat and rain |
| Logroño | 58 | 14 | 7 | storms and heat |
| Badajoz | 57 | 19 | 9 | heat and rain |
| Guadalajara | 57 | 9.9 | 3 | heat and storms |
| Granada | 56 | 14 | 5 | heat and storms |
| Almería | 55 | 5.3 | 0 | wind and heat |
| Dénia | 55 | 12 | 8 | rain and storms |
| Barcelona | 54 | 9.4 | 5 | rain and storms |
| Vitoria-Gasteiz | 52 | 10 | 2 | storms and wind |
| València | 51 | 12 | 13 | rain and storms |
| Ciudad Real | 50 | 13 | 0 | heat and rain |
| León | 50 | 3.6 | 0 | storms and rain |
| Tarragona | 49 | 8.7 | 2 | rain and storms |
| Murcia | 46 | 13 | 11 | heat and rain |
| Vigo | 46 | 5.1 | 0 | rain and wind |
| Castellón de la Plana | 45 | 11 | 2 | rain and storms |
| San Sebastián | 43 | 5.7 | 4 | rain and storms |
| Bilbao | 41 | 8.0 | 9 | rain and storms |
| Alicante | 41 | 7.1 | 11 | rain and heat |
| A Coruña | 41 | 6.7 | 2 | wind and rain |
| Cáceres | 40 | 9.7 | 0 | heat and rain |
| Lugo | 39 | 3.3 | 0 | rain and wind |
| Ourense | 39 | 6.1 | 4 | heat and rain |
| Cádiz | 39 | 5.1 | 2 | rain and wind |
| Huelva | 39 | 9.1 | 7 | heat and rain |
| Santa Cruz de Tenerife | 37 | 5.7 | 3 | wind and heat |
| Málaga | 35 | 10 | 15 | rain and heat |
| Santander | 33 | 3.1 | 3 | rain and wind |
| Las Palmas de Gran Canaria | 26 | 2.9 | 0 | heat and wind |
| Oviedo | 26 | 3.1 | 1 | rain and storms |
| Gijón | 26 | 2.0 | 0 | rain and wind |
| Avilés | 22 | 1.9 | 0 | rain and wind |
Averages for 2019–2025. Careful: each zone has its own thresholds, so a warning doesn't mean exactly the same everywhere.
If you live in Madrid or are thinking of moving
- With 16 orange or red days a year, serious warnings are part of the calendar: it pays to know when they come.
- Summer is what you plan around: blinds, cross-ventilation and timetables. Heat warnings cluster from late June to late August.
- Summer storms are short, afternoon affairs, but they can bring hail and strong gusts; the warning usually comes hours ahead.
- Snow warnings are rare, but when they come they bring the city to a halt: have a plan B for getting to work.
In short
A seasonal-warning city: quiet ten months a year, with a long, hot summer. The exceptional, like Filomena, rarely happens, but it does happen.
Frequently asked questions
When does it rain most in Madrid?
Going by the warnings, the months with the most rain-warning days are September and June. On average there are 13 rain-warning days a year.
What's the best month to visit Madrid?
If you want to dodge bad-weather warnings, February and April: they have the fewest warning days on average.
Have there been red warnings in Madrid?
Yes: 5 red days since June 2018, the latest on 3 September 2023 (rain).
Does it get very hot in Madrid?
There are 36 heat-warning days a year on average. The yellow warning here starts at a forecast high of 36 °C.
How this was made
Everything comes from the archive of official AEMET warnings that Climaviso has kept since June 2018: each day counts once, at the highest level the zone had. A warning is a forecast, not damage or a measurement, and it's issued for the whole zone, not your street. We don't cover measured temperatures or rainfall: only when, and why, a warning was issued.
More on Madrid
- Camino de Madrid weather, stage by stage
- Madrid's warnings day by day since 2018
- The Metropolitana y Henares zone
- Today's and tomorrow's warnings in Madrid
- How the year is going across Spain
- How warnings work
- Madrid vs Barcelona
- Sevilla vs Madrid
- Málaga vs Madrid
- Madrid vs València
Other cities
- Barcelona
- València
- Sevilla
- Zaragoza
- Málaga
- Bilbao
- Alicante
- Gijón
- Avilés
- Murcia
- Palma
- Las Palmas de Gran Canaria
- Santa Cruz de Tenerife
- Valladolid
- Vigo
- A Coruña
- Granada
- Córdoba
- Oviedo
- Pamplona
- San Sebastián
- Santander
- Salamanca
- Logroño
- Castellón de la Plana
- Cádiz
- Dénia
- Ibiza
- Almería
- Albacete
- Ávila
- Badajoz
- Burgos
- Cáceres
- Ciudad Real
- Cuenca
- Girona
- Guadalajara
- Huelva
- Huesca
- Jaén
- León
- Lleida
- Lugo
- Ourense
- Palencia
- Segovia
- Soria
- Tarragona
- Teruel
- Toledo
- Vitoria-Gasteiz
- Zamora