Camino del Norte weather: warnings stage by stage, month by month

Camino del Norte, Irún to Santiago, in 36 stages. Warnings 2019–2025; updated 27 October 2026.

The Camino del Norte follows the Bay of Biscay coast from Irún and turns inland through Galicia to reach Santiago. Its bad weather is rain and wind rather than heat, and by warnings it's one of the calmest pilgrim routes. This is what the official warnings say, stage by stage and month by month.

April

the month with the fewest warnings

1.5 warning days walking the whole route

June

the month with the most warnings

5.3 warning days in 36 stages

warning zones

in 6 provinces

red days on some stage

2019 to 2025

It's many stages through four regions: the Basque Country, Cantabria, Asturias and Galicia. Here we count, for each one, the warning days in the zones it crosses, and add them up month by month.

Spring is the best time to walk it. The busiest times are June, with rain and storms, and late autumn and winter, with rain and wind.

Heat barely counts: on the Cantabrian coast the heat threshold is among the lowest in Spain, and heat warnings are still rare.

The Camino del Norte's warning zones

AEMET doesn't warn by village but by zone. The Camino del Norte crosses 9 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 Irún to Santiago in each month. Tap a month to see it stage by stage.

yelloworangered

5.0Jan 2.8Feb 2.5Mar 1.5Apr 2.7May 5.3Jun 2.2Jul 3.1Aug 4.1Sep 3.8Oct 5.2Nov 5.1Dec

Stage-days with a warning, average 2019–2025, over 36 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. Irún – San Sebastián	13	6	6	6	11	19	9	17	15	10	20	12
2. San Sebastián – Zarautz	13	6	6	6	11	19	9	17	15	10	20	12
3. Zarautz – Deba	13	6	6	6	11	19	9	17	15	10	20	12
4. Deba – Markina-Xemein	14	8	7	7	12	21	9	18	18	12	20	15
5. Markina-Xemein – Gernika	10	5	4	3	9	17	7	14	15	9	14	13
6. Gernika – Bilbao	16	7	6	5	11	27	12	20	20	10	15	16
7. Bilbao – Portugalete	16	7	6	5	11	27	12	20	20	10	15	16
8. Portugalete – Castro Urdiales	16	7	5	3	12	20	8	16	16	10	16	16
9. Castro Urdiales – Laredo	13	5	4	1	9	13	6	11	10	8	13	15
10. Laredo – Güemes	13	5	4	1	9	13	6	11	10	8	13	15
11. Güemes – Santander	13	5	4	1	9	13	6	11	10	8	13	15
12. Santander – Santillana del Mar	13	5	4	1	9	13	6	11	10	8	13	15
13. Santillana del Mar – Comillas	13	5	4	1	9	13	6	11	10	8	13	15
14. Comillas – Colombres	17	6	4	1	9	18	7	11	14	11	16	17
15. Colombres – Llanes	10	5	3	1	5	12	5	5	9	9	12	9
16. Llanes – Ribadesella	10	5	3	1	5	12	5	5	9	9	12	9
17. Ribadesella – Colunga	10	5	3	1	5	12	5	5	9	9	12	9
18. Colunga – Villaviciosa	10	5	3	1	5	12	5	5	9	9	12	9
19. Villaviciosa – Gijón	10	5	3	1	5	12	5	5	9	9	12	9
20. Gijón – Avilés	12	7	6	2	6	14	5	5	11	10	15	10
21. Avilés – Muros de Nalón	7	5	5	2	3	12	3	3	7	5	10	9
22. Muros de Nalón – Soto de Luiña	7	5	5	2	3	12	3	3	7	5	10	9
23. Soto de Luiña – Cadavedo	7	5	5	2	3	12	3	3	7	5	10	9
24. Cadavedo – Luarca	7	5	5	2	3	12	3	3	7	5	10	9
25. Luarca – La Caridad	7	5	5	2	3	12	3	3	7	5	10	9
26. La Caridad – Ribadeo	23	12	16	8	5	14	4	5	11	16	22	23
27. Ribadeo – Lourenzá	22	12	15	6	5	10	3	2	9	16	18	20
28. Lourenzá – Mondoñedo	22	12	15	6	5	10	3	2	9	16	18	20
29. Mondoñedo – Gontán	28	19	17	10	11	18	7	7	13	18	19	27
30. Gontán – Vilalba	17	14	8	6	10	14	7	6	11	13	9	15
31. Vilalba – Baamonde	17	14	8	6	10	14	7	6	11	13	9	15
32. Baamonde – Miraz	17	14	8	6	10	14	7	6	11	13	9	15
33. Miraz – Sobrado dos Monxes	22	18	11	9	10	16	10	9	16	20	17	21
34. Sobrado dos Monxes – Arzúa	15	11	11	7	7	10	7	6	11	17	15	16
35. Arzúa – O Pedrouzo	15	11	11	7	7	10	7	6	11	17	15	16
36. O Pedrouzo – Santiago de Compostela	15	11	11	7	7	10	7	6	11	17	15	16

The Camino del Norte section by section

Basque Country: Irún – Portugalete

Along the Basque coast, rain is the top reason for a warning, with storms and wind behind it. The Bilbao stage enters the Bizkaia interior zone, the one with the most snow warnings on the whole Camino del Norte.

Most common: rain, storms and wind. Most warnings in June and November; fewest in April and March.

Cantabria: Portugalete – Comillas

The Cantabrian coast gets fewer warnings than the Basque one: rain and wind, mostly in winter and in June.

Most common: rain, wind and storms. Most warnings in December and June; fewest in April and March.

Asturias: Comillas – La Caridad

Asturias is the calmest section of the Camino del Norte: the western Asturian coast is among the least-warned zones in Spain. What there is is rain, wind and the odd storm.

Most common: rain, wind and storms. Most warnings in June and November; fewest in April and March.

Galicia: La Caridad – Santiago de Compostela

In Galicia the Camino leaves the coast at Ribadeo and climbs inland through Mondoñedo and Vilalba. Here wind brings as many warnings as rain; winter is the busiest time and summer the calmest.

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

The worst days on the Camino del Norte

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

orange12 July 2026: orange warning on 33 of 36 stages, for rain, storms and heat · the episode
red21 December 2019: red warning on 31 of 36 stages, for wind · the episode
orange9 October 2024: orange warning on 31 of 36 stages, for rain and wind · the episode
orange29 January 2019: orange warning on 29 of 36 stages, for wind · the episode
orange3 November 2019: orange warning on 29 of 36 stages, for wind · the episode
orange20 October 2023: orange warning on 29 of 36 stages, for rain and wind · the episode
red22 December 2019: red warning on 28 of 36 stages, for wind · the episode
red23 July 2019: red warning on 26 of 36 stages, for rain, storms and heat · the episode

When a warning is issued on the Camino del Norte

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

Zone	Heat	Cold	Wind	Rain 1 h	Snow 24 h
Gipuzkoa litoral	34 °C	−1 °C	90 km/h	15 mm	2 cm
Bizkaia litoral	34 °C	−1 °C	90 km/h	15 mm	2 cm
Bizkaia interior	34 °C	−4 °C	90 km/h	15 mm	2 cm
Litoral cántabro	34 °C	−1 °C	90 km/h	15 mm	2 cm
Litoral oriental asturiano	34 °C	−1 °C	90 km/h	15 mm	2 cm
Litoral occidental asturiano	34 °C	−1 °C	90 km/h	15 mm	2 cm
A Mariña	34 °C	−1 °C	80 km/h	15 mm	2 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 del Norte

Check AEMET's forecast the evening before each stage, and the zone's warnings on the Climaviso map.
A waterproof and windproof layer: rain and wind are the most common warnings along the whole route.
With a wind warning, avoid cliff-top stretches and exposed beaches.
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 Camino del Norte?

By warnings, April: on average, 1.5 warning days if you walk the 36 stages that month. Then July and March. The month with the most warnings is June, with 5.3 days.

Which section of the Camino del Norte gets the most rain warnings?

Basque Country: on average, a rain warning on 8% of days, mostly in June, September and November.

Does the Camino del Norte get hot enough for warnings in summer?

In July and August, the section with the most heat warnings is Basque Country: a heat warning on 5% of days, on average.

Can it snow on the Camino del Norte?

Yes, above all on the mountain sections: snow warnings bunch up in the Bizkaia interior and Centro de Lugo zones, in January, February and December. There, yellow needs 2 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.