Ruta de la Lana weather: warnings stage by stage, month by month

Ruta de la Lana, Alicante to Burgos, in 27 stages. Warnings 2019–2025; updated 27 October 2026.

The Ruta de la Lana follows the old wool-trade routes from Alicante, through Cuenca and Guadalajara, to Burgos, where it joins the Camino Francés. It starts on the coast and ends on the Castilian plateau, so it brings together two kinds of weather: summer heat in La Mancha and winter snow in the northern sierras. By warnings it's a little busier than the Camino Francés. This is what the official warnings say, stage by stage and month by month.

April

the month with the fewest warnings

2.5 warning days walking the whole route

July

the month with the most warnings

12 warning days in 27 stages

warning zones

in 6 provinces

red days on some stage

2019 to 2025

It's many stages through three regions: the Valencian Community, Castilla-La Mancha and Castilla y León, passing through Soria before Burgos. Here we count, for each one, the warning days in the zones it crosses, and add them up month by month.

April and November are the calmest months. July and August are the busiest, with heat and storms; January also stands out, with cold and wind, and June brings storms. In March and November snow is already among the most common warnings.

Over the last eight years the route has had red-warning days in summer and in winter: for example 9 January 2021, for snow; 14 August 2021, for storms and heat on almost every stage; or 12 and 13 September 2019, for rain, storms and wind.

The Ruta de la Lana's warning zones

AEMET doesn't warn by village but by zone. The Ruta de la Lana crosses 13 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 Alicante to Burgos in each month. Tap a month to see it stage by stage.

yelloworangered

9.0Jan 2.9Feb 3.6Mar 2.5Apr 3.1May 7.7Jun 12Jul 11Aug 4.5Sep 2.7Oct 2.6Nov 3.7Dec

Stage-days with a warning, average 2019–2025, over 27 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. Alicante – Orito	9	3	11	8	10	8	22	24	14	8	7	8
2. Orito – Petrer	26	9	17	13	16	13	27	30	19	9	13	16
3. Petrer – Villena	25	8	12	11	15	10	18	21	16	7	10	13
4. Villena – Caudete	27	9	15	11	17	23	49	50	22	11	12	15
5. Caudete – Almansa	20	8	10	6	12	23	47	47	18	7	9	10
6. Almansa – Alpera	20	8	10	6	12	23	47	47	18	7	9	10
7. Alpera – Alatoz	40	9	13	10	15	33	66	62	23	11	12	18
8. Alatoz – Casas-Ibáñez	36	7	10	10	11	30	60	59	19	10	7	14
9. Casas-Ibáñez – Villarta	36	7	11	11	12	33	62	60	21	12	9	15
10. Villarta – Campillo de Altobuey	17	4	10	7	8	31	51	47	17	10	7	8
11. Campillo de Altobuey – Monteagudo de las Salinas	39	11	16	10	12	36	57	59	22	12	10	17
12. Monteagudo de las Salinas – Fuentes	37	10	13	9	10	33	57	58	20	11	7	14
13. Fuentes – Cuenca	37	10	13	9	10	33	57	58	20	11	7	14
14. Cuenca – Villar de Domingo García	40	10	13	10	11	36	57	59	22	13	7	14
15. Villar de Domingo García – Villaconejos de Trabaque	15	3	6	5	7	26	44	41	13	8	5	4
16. Villaconejos de Trabaque – Salmerón	17	4	7	7	9	30	46	41	16	10	8	6
17. Salmerón – Viana de Mondéjar	15	4	7	6	9	27	42	39	14	9	7	6
18. Viana de Mondéjar – Cifuentes	15	4	7	6	9	27	42	39	14	9	7	6
19. Cifuentes – Mandayona	39	18	18	10	9	31	46	40	15	10	9	15
20. Mandayona – Atienza	38	17	17	8	7	27	35	29	13	8	8	13
21. Atienza – Retortillo de Soria	46	19	21	10	11	32	39	32	16	11	13	18
22. Retortillo de Soria – Fresno de Caracena	46	16	19	10	10	33	35	30	11	10	10	18
23. Fresno de Caracena – San Esteban de Gormaz	43	16	16	9	10	33	33	27	11	7	7	14
24. San Esteban de Gormaz – Quintanarraya	53	18	18	11	14	40	35	29	14	11	12	18
25. Quintanarraya – Santo Domingo de Silos	60	24	21	14	16	35	29	25	14	15	20	25
26. Santo Domingo de Silos – Mecerreyes	60	24	21	14	16	35	29	25	14	15	20	25
27. Mecerreyes – Burgos	44	14	12	8	12	32	24	23	10	7	9	17

The Ruta de la Lana section by section

Alicante: Alicante – Caudete

This is the calmest section of the Ruta de la Lana: the southern Alicante coast is the zone with the fewest warnings on the whole route. What there is is rain and storms, and some wind as you climb towards Petrer and Villena; August and July are the busiest months.

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

Albacete: Caudete – Villarta

Between Caudete and Villarta heat is in charge. La Mancha albaceteña is the route's zone with the most heat warnings, and July and August are the busiest months.

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

Cuenca: Villarta – Salmerón

The Serranía de Cuenca is the zone with the most warning days on the whole route. In summer heat and storms weigh most, with a lower heat threshold than in La Mancha, 34 °C; in winter there are snow warnings too.

Most common: heat, storms and rain. Most warnings in July and August; fewest in November and February.

La Alcarria and Atienza: Salmerón – Retortillo de Soria

Through La Alcarria heat and storms are still in charge in July and August, and cold joins the usual warnings. Climbing to Atienza, in the Serranía de Guadalajara, snow warnings become more frequent.

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

Soria and Burgos: Retortillo de Soria – Burgos

On the final section January is the busiest month, followed by June, with storms. The Ibérica de Burgos zone, around Santo Domingo de Silos, is the route's zone with the most snow and wind warnings.

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

The worst days on the Ruta de la Lana

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

orange2 March 2020: orange warning on 27 of 27 stages, for wind and snow · the episode
red14 August 2021: red warning on 26 of 27 stages, for storms and heat · the episode
red9 January 2021: red warning on 24 of 27 stages, for snow · the episode
red9 August 2023: red warning on 24 of 27 stages, for storms and heat · the episode
orange20 December 2019: orange warning on 24 of 27 stages, for rain and wind · the episode
orange22 January 2021: orange warning on 24 of 27 stages, for wind · the episode
orange2 November 2023: orange warning on 24 of 27 stages, for rain and wind · the episode
red8 January 2021: red warning on 23 of 27 stages, for cold and snow · the episode

When a warning is issued on the Ruta de la Lana

Thresholds change from zone to zone. These are the yellow ones in the Ruta de la Lana's zones:

Zone	Heat	Cold	Wind	Rain 1 h	Snow 24 h
Litoral sur de Alicante	36 °C	−1 °C	70 km/h	20 mm	2 cm
Interior de Alicante	38 °C	−4 °C	70 km/h	20 mm	2 cm
Hellín y Almansa	36 °C	−4 °C	70 km/h	15 mm	2 cm
La Mancha albaceteña	36 °C	−4 °C	70 km/h	15 mm	2 cm
La Mancha conquense	36 °C	−6 °C	70 km/h	15 mm	2 cm
Serranía de Cuenca	34 °C	−6 °C	80 km/h	15 mm	5 cm
Alcarria conquense	36 °C	−6 °C	70 km/h	15 mm	2 cm
Alcarria de Guadalajara	36 °C	−6 °C	70 km/h	15 mm	2 cm
Serranía de Guadalajara	34 °C	−6 °C	80 km/h	15 mm	5 cm
Sistema Central de Soria	34 °C	−6 °C	80 km/h	15 mm	5 cm
Meseta de Soria	36 °C	−6 °C	70 km/h	15 mm	2 cm
Meseta 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

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

Tips for the Ruta de la Lana

Check AEMET's forecast the evening before each stage, and the zone's warnings on the Climaviso map.
In July and August, set off very early and carry plenty of water through La Mancha and Cuenca: heat is the most common warning on those sections.
In winter, check for snow warnings before the mountain stages: Cuenca, Atienza, southern Soria and Santo Domingo de Silos.
In June, watch for storms: it's one of the route's busiest months for warnings.
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 Ruta de la Lana?

By warnings, April: on average, 2.5 warning days if you walk the 27 stages that month. Then November and October. The month with the most warnings is July, with 12 days.

Which section of the Ruta de la Lana gets the most rain warnings?

Cuenca: on average, a rain warning on 6% of days, mostly in June, August and September.

Does the Ruta de la Lana get hot enough for warnings in summer?

In July and August, the section with the most heat warnings is Albacete: a heat warning on 47% of days, on average.

Can it snow on the Ruta de la Lana?

Yes, above all on the mountain sections: snow warnings bunch up in the Ibérica de Burgos, Sistema Central de Soria and Serranía de Guadalajara 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.