Camino Francés weather: warnings stage by stage, month by month

Camino Francés, Roncesvalles to Santiago, in 32 stages. Warnings 2019–2025; updated 27 October 2026.

The Camino Francés crosses northern Spain from east to west, from the Pyrenees to Galicia, and in a few weeks it passes through several kinds of bad weather: storms and heat on the Meseta, snow on the mountain passes and rain in Galicia. This is what the official warnings say, stage by stage and month by month.

April

the month with the fewest warnings

2.9 warning days walking the whole route

January

the month with the most warnings

11 warning days in 32 stages

warning zones

in 7 provinces

red days on some stage

2019 to 2025

Warnings aren't issued by stage but by zone: AEMET divides Spain into warning zones, each with its own thresholds, and the Camino crosses many of them, from the Navarre Pyrenees to inland A Coruña.

Here we count, for each stage, the warning days in the zones it crosses, and add them up month by month: that way you know how many warning days to expect, on average, walking one stage a day.

By warnings, spring and autumn are the best seasons to walk. Summer brings storms along almost the whole Camino and heat on the Meseta, and winter brings cold, wind, fog and snow on the passes.

The Camino Francés's warning zones

AEMET doesn't warn by village but by zone. The Camino Francés crosses 14 warning zones, each with its own thresholds and warnings: on the same day one section can have a warning and the next none.

Fewer warnings than averageClose to averageMore warnings than average

Average warning days a year in each zone, 2019–2025, against the median of Spain's zones (54 days). Approximate route through the stages. Tap a zone to go to its page.

Walking the whole route, month by month

How many warning days you'd get, on average, walking one stage a day from Roncesvalles to Santiago in each month. Tap a month to see it stage by stage.

yelloworangered

11Jan 4.6Feb 4.0Mar 2.9Apr 3.7May 8.7Jun 6.8Jul 7.1Aug 4.0Sep 3.5Oct 4.0Nov 6.3Dec

Stage-days with a warning, average 2019–2025, over 32 stages; the colour is the day's highest level in the stage's zones.

Stage by stage, month by month

Share of days with some warning in each stage's zones, 2019–2025. The darker, the more warnings.

Stage	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
1. Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port – Roncesvalles	41	18	21	12	12	36	24	31	17	13	17	26
2. Roncesvalles – Zubiri	41	18	21	12	12	36	24	31	17	13	17	26
3. Zubiri – Pamplona	43	19	25	16	15	39	31	36	20	15	18	34
4. Pamplona – Puente la Reina	28	9	12	10	13	34	28	33	17	11	9	20
5. Puente la Reina – Estella	28	9	12	10	13	34	28	33	17	11	9	20
6. Estella – Los Arcos	33	10	12	10	15	41	38	39	18	11	12	24
7. Los Arcos – Logroño	19	8	7	7	15	39	39	40	15	5	9	14
8. Logroño – Nájera	18	6	7	5	14	34	37	36	12	4	7	11
9. Nájera – Santo Domingo de la Calzada	18	6	7	5	14	34	37	36	12	4	7	11
10. Santo Domingo de la Calzada – Belorado	36	15	14	9	17	36	37	37	16	13	15	24
11. Belorado – Agés	55	23	24	14	17	35	29	27	16	17	21	25
12. Agés – Burgos	60	24	21	14	16	35	29	25	14	15	20	25
13. Burgos – Hontanas	44	14	12	8	12	32	24	23	10	7	9	17
14. Hontanas – Boadilla del Camino	47	17	12	9	14	35	25	24	12	8	11	21
15. Boadilla del Camino – Carrión de los Condes	41	14	9	7	10	28	22	22	9	7	10	17
16. Carrión de los Condes – Terradillos de los Templarios	41	14	9	7	10	28	22	22	9	7	10	17
17. Terradillos de los Templarios – Bercianos del Real Camino	46	17	9	8	13	30	23	22	10	7	11	19
18. Bercianos del Real Camino – Mansilla de las Mulas	39	13	7	6	10	20	14	16	8	6	8	15
19. Mansilla de las Mulas – León	39	13	7	6	10	20	14	16	8	6	8	15
20. León – Villar de Mazarife	39	13	7	6	10	20	14	16	8	6	8	15
21. Villar de Mazarife – Astorga	39	13	7	6	10	20	14	16	8	6	8	15
22. Astorga – Rabanal del Camino	63	28	26	19	12	25	17	19	13	17	28	40
23. Rabanal del Camino – Ponferrada	52	26	26	19	10	25	21	21	12	17	27	36
24. Ponferrada – Villafranca del Bierzo	18	6	3	2	7	21	18	20	8	4	4	8
25. Villafranca del Bierzo – O Cebreiro	28	13	11	9	10	26	18	20	11	10	13	20
26. O Cebreiro – Triacastela	17	12	10	9	10	21	7	7	11	10	12	14
27. Triacastela – Sarria	24	19	12	10	11	21	8	8	12	16	14	23
28. Sarria – Portomarín	17	14	8	6	10	14	7	6	11	13	9	15
29. Portomarín – Palas de Rei	17	14	8	6	10	14	7	6	11	13	9	15
30. Palas de Rei – Arzúa	22	18	11	9	10	16	10	9	16	20	17	21
31. Arzúa – O Pedrouzo	15	11	11	7	7	10	7	6	11	17	15	16
32. O Pedrouzo – Santiago de Compostela	15	11	11	7	7	10	7	6	11	17	15	16

The Camino Francés section by section

Navarre: Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port – Los Arcos

It starts in the Pyrenees: as far as Zubiri you walk through the Navarre Pyrenees zone, with mountain thresholds and among the Camino's zones with the most snow warnings. The French part of the first stage is outside AEMET's zones. From Pamplona to Los Arcos, the Navarre basin spreads its warnings across rain, storms and heat.

Most common: rain, storms and heat. Most warnings in June and January; fewest in April and October.

La Rioja: Los Arcos – Santo Domingo de la Calzada

The Ebro valley packs its warnings into summer, with storms and heat from June to August. The rest of the year it's one of the Camino's quietest sections.

Most common: storms, heat and rain. Most warnings in July and August; fewest in October and April.

Burgos: Santo Domingo de la Calzada – Hontanas

After Belorado the Camino climbs into the Montes de Oca, in the Ibérica de Burgos zone, with mountain thresholds and snow warnings in winter. Then it drops to Burgos and enters the Meseta, where January gets more warnings than summer.

Most common: storms, rain and wind. Most warnings in January and June; fewest in April and October.

Palencia: Hontanas – Terradillos de los Templarios

Tierra de Campos is the Meseta at its purest. Its warnings are spread across storms, rain, wind and heat, and in winter fog counts too.

Most common: storms, rain and wind. Most warnings in January and June; fewest in October and April.

León Meseta: Terradillos de los Templarios – Astorga

As far as Astorga, the León Meseta is one of the Camino's least-warned sections outside winter. January is the exception, with cold and fog.

Most common: storms, rain and wind. Most warnings in January and June; fewest in April and October.

León mountains and El Bierzo: Astorga – Villafranca del Bierzo

Between Astorga and Ponferrada the Camino climbs to the Cruz de Ferro, in the Cordillera Cantábrica de León zone: the one with the most snow warnings on the whole Camino. On the way down, El Bierzo is the route's least-warned zone.

Most common: rain, snow and storms. Most warnings in January and December; fewest in May and September.

Galicia: Villafranca del Bierzo – Santiago de Compostela

From O Cebreiro to Santiago, rain is the top reason for a warning, with wind behind it. O Cebreiro is in the Montaña de Lugo zone, with mountain thresholds and snow warnings in winter; the Galician summer, by contrast, is one of the Camino's quietest times.

Most common: rain, wind and storms. Most warnings in January and December; fewest in April and August.

The worst days on the Camino Francés

The days since 2018 with orange or red on the most stages at once.

red17 July 2022: red warning on 29 of 32 stages, for heat · the episode
orange21 December 2019: orange warning on 28 of 32 stages, for wind · the episode
orange11 June 2025: orange warning on 28 of 32 stages, for rain and storms · the episode
red16 July 2022: red warning on 25 of 32 stages, for heat · the episode
red9 August 2023: red warning on 25 of 32 stages, for storms and heat · the episode
orange9 October 2024: orange warning on 25 of 32 stages, for rain and wind · the episode
orange23 July 2019: orange warning on 24 of 32 stages, for rain, storms, wind and heat · the episode
orange19 December 2019: orange warning on 23 of 32 stages, for rain and wind · the episode

When a warning is issued on the Camino Francés

Thresholds change from zone to zone. These are the yellow ones in the Camino Francés's zones:

Zone	Heat	Cold	Wind	Rain 1 h	Snow 24 h
Pirineo navarro	34 °C	−6 °C	80 km/h	15 mm	5 cm
Centro de Navarra	36 °C	−4 °C	70 km/h	15 mm	2 cm
Ribera del Ebro de Navarra	36 °C	−4 °C	70 km/h	15 mm	2 cm
Ribera del Ebro de La Rioja	36 °C	−4 °C	70 km/h	15 mm	2 cm
Norte de Burgos	36 °C	−6 °C	70 km/h	15 mm	2 cm
Ibérica de Burgos	34 °C	−6 °C	80 km/h	15 mm	5 cm
Meseta de Burgos	36 °C	−6 °C	70 km/h	15 mm	2 cm
Meseta de Palencia	36 °C	−6 °C	70 km/h	15 mm	2 cm
Meseta de León	36 °C	−6 °C	70 km/h	15 mm	2 cm
Cordillera Cantábrica de León	34 °C	−6 °C	80 km/h	15 mm	5 cm
Bierzo de León	36 °C	−6 °C	70 km/h	15 mm	2 cm
Montaña de Lugo	34 °C	−6 °C	80 km/h	15 mm	5 cm
Centro de Lugo	36 °C	−4 °C	70 km/h	15 mm	2 cm
Interior de A Coruña	34 °C	−4 °C	70 km/h	15 mm	2 cm

Yellow thresholds from AEMET's warning plan. Orange and red need more. Storms have no numeric threshold.

Tips for the Camino Francés

Check AEMET's forecast the evening before each stage, and the zone's warnings on the Climaviso map.
With a heat warning on the Meseta, set off very early and carry more water than you think: some stretches between villages are long.
With a storm warning, avoid high, open stretches in the afternoon.
In winter and early spring, ask at the hostel about the mountain pass (Roncesvalles, the Cruz de Ferro, O Cebreiro) before setting off: in snow, there are road alternatives.
A warning covers the whole zone: it doesn't mean it will happen on your stage, but it does mean you should keep an eye out.

Frequently asked questions

What's the best month to walk the Camino Francés?

By warnings, April: on average, 2.9 warning days if you walk the 32 stages that month. Then October and May. The month with the most warnings is January, with 11 days.

Which section of the Camino Francés gets the most rain warnings?

Navarre: on average, a rain warning on 7% of days, mostly in May, June and September.

Does the Camino Francés get hot enough for warnings in summer?

In July and August, the section with the most heat warnings is La Rioja: a heat warning on 28% of days, on average.

Can it snow on the Camino Francés?

Yes, above all on the mountain sections: snow warnings bunch up in the Cordillera Cantábrica de León, Pirineo navarro and Ibérica de Burgos zones, in January, March and December. There, yellow needs 5 cm in 24 hours.

What should I do if there's a warning on my stage?

A yellow warning calls for attention, not cancelling: check the forecast, set off early if it's for heat and have a plan B for storms or snow on a pass. With orange or red, follow Civil Protection's and the hostels' advice, and consider shortening or changing the stage.

This is not a forecast: it counts the warnings AEMET issued on those dates in past years. A warning is a forecast that a threshold will be crossed in the zone, not damage.