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

Camino Olvidado, Bilbao to Villafranca del Bierzo, in 23 stages. Warnings 2019–2025; updated 27 October 2026.

The Camino Olvidado leaves Bilbao and runs along the southern edge of the Cantabrian mountains, through northern Burgos, Palencia and León, to Villafranca del Bierzo, where it joins the Camino Francés. It's a mountain route, and its bad weather is winter weather: snow and wind are the warnings that weigh most. 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.

May

the month with the fewest warnings

2.5 warning days walking the whole route

January

the month with the most warnings

9.4 warning days in 23 stages

warning zones

in 5 provinces

red days on some stage

2019 to 2025

It's many stages through three regions: the Basque Country, Castilla y León and a stretch of Cantabria. Here we count, for each one, the warning days in the zones it crosses, and add them up month by month.

May and September are the calmest months. January is by far the busiest, with cold and snow, and from February to April snow is still the most common warning. June brings storms.

Although heat brings few warnings, over the last eight years most of the route's red-warning days have been summer heat days, such as 16 July 2022, on every stage, or 21 to 24 June 2026. In winter there have been some for wind and snow, such as 14 November 2019 and 8 and 9 December 2024.

The Camino Olvidado's warning zones

AEMET doesn't warn by village but by zone. The Camino Olvidado crosses 8 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 Bilbao to Villafranca del Bierzo in each month. Tap a month to see it stage by stage.

yelloworangered

9.4Jan 4.5Feb 4.6Mar 3.1Apr 2.5May 5.9Jun 3.9Jul 4.4Aug 2.7Sep 3.2Oct 4.7Nov 5.7Dec

Stage-days with a warning, average 2019–2025, over 23 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. Bilbao – Mimetiz	13	6	6	4	9	26	12	18	16	7	11	7
2. Mimetiz – Villasana de Mena	33	14	14	10	15	32	23	29	21	14	17	19
3. Villasana de Mena – Espinosa de los Monteros	42	16	21	10	14	30	21	24	12	15	21	24
4. Espinosa de los Monteros – Santelices	37	16	18	10	12	27	17	19	11	14	19	21
5. Santelices – Arija	37	16	18	10	12	27	17	19	11	14	19	21
6. Arija – Olea	42	18	21	13	13	29	18	20	12	15	20	24
7. Olea – Aguilar de Campoo	53	19	18	12	13	35	24	23	13	13	14	26
8. Aguilar de Campoo – Cervera de Pisuerga	59	25	25	16	12	31	23	22	11	16	26	35
9. Cervera de Pisuerga – Tarilonte de la Peña	41	21	25	15	11	26	13	17	10	16	23	25
10. Tarilonte de la Peña – Guardo	41	21	25	15	11	26	13	17	10	16	23	25
11. Guardo – Puente Almuhey	48	27	27	20	12	29	16	18	13	17	27	32
12. Puente Almuhey – Cistierna	48	26	26	19	10	23	15	17	11	17	26	31
13. Cistierna – Boñar	48	26	26	19	10	23	15	17	11	17	26	31
14. Boñar – Robles de la Valcueva	48	26	26	19	10	23	15	17	11	17	26	31
15. Robles de la Valcueva – La Robla	48	26	26	19	10	23	15	17	11	17	26	31
16. La Robla – La Magdalena	48	26	26	19	10	23	15	17	11	17	26	31
17. La Magdalena – Riello	48	26	26	19	10	23	15	17	11	17	26	31
18. Riello – Fasgar	48	26	26	19	10	23	15	17	11	17	26	31
19. Fasgar – Igüeña	48	26	26	19	10	23	15	17	11	17	26	31
20. Igüeña – Labaniego	52	26	26	19	10	25	21	21	12	17	27	36
21. Labaniego – Congosto	18	6	3	2	7	21	18	20	8	4	4	8
22. Congosto – Cabañas Raras	18	6	3	2	7	21	18	20	8	4	4	8
23. Cabañas Raras – Villafranca del Bierzo	18	6	3	2	7	21	18	20	8	4	4	8

The Camino Olvidado section by section

Bizkaia: Bilbao – Villasana de Mena

This is the calmest section of the Camino Olvidado. From Bilbao to Villasana de Mena, rain is the top reason for a warning, with storms and wind behind it; June and January are the busiest months.

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

Northern Burgos: Villasana de Mena – Olea

Crossing into Burgos, wind becomes the top reason for a warning. Through Espinosa de los Monteros, Santelices and Arija you enter the Cantabrian mountains of Burgos, with frequent snow warnings in winter; there the snow threshold is 5 cm.

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

Palencia mountains: Olea – Puente Almuhey

From Olea to Puente Almuhey is the route's most-warned section: wind, storms and snow, especially between Cervera de Pisuerga and Guardo, in the Cantabrian mountains of Palencia. January is the busiest month, followed by June.

Most common: wind, storms and snow. Most warnings in January and June; fewest in September and May.

León mountains and El Bierzo: Puente Almuhey – Villafranca del Bierzo

In the León mountains snow is the top reason for a warning: the Cordillera Cantábrica de León is the route's zone with the most snow and wind warnings. Dropping into El Bierzo, everything changes: it's the zone with the fewest warnings on the whole route.

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

The worst days on the Camino Olvidado

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

red16 July 2022: red warning on 23 of 23 stages, for heat · the episode
orange17 July 2022: orange warning on 23 of 23 stages, for heat · the episode
orange21 December 2019: orange warning on 22 of 23 stages, for wind · the episode
orange18 January 2023: orange warning on 22 of 23 stages, for snow · the episode
red14 November 2019: red warning on 21 of 23 stages, for wind and snow · the episode
red23 July 2019: red warning on 20 of 23 stages, for rain, storms, wind and heat · the episode
orange22 January 2019: orange warning on 20 of 23 stages, for cold and snow · the episode
orange23 January 2019: orange warning on 20 of 23 stages, for rain, wind and snow · the episode

When a warning is issued on the Camino Olvidado

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

Zone	Heat	Cold	Wind	Rain 1 h	Snow 24 h
Bizkaia interior	34 °C	−4 °C	90 km/h	15 mm	2 cm
Norte de Burgos	36 °C	−6 °C	70 km/h	15 mm	2 cm
Cordillera Cantábrica de Burgos	34 °C	−6 °C	80 km/h	15 mm	5 cm
Cantabria del Ebro	34 °C	−6 °C	80 km/h	15 mm	5 cm
Meseta de Palencia	36 °C	−6 °C	70 km/h	15 mm	2 cm
Cordillera Cantábrica de Palencia	34 °C	−6 °C	80 km/h	15 mm	5 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

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

Tips for the Camino Olvidado

Check AEMET's forecast the evening before each stage, and the zone's warnings on the Climaviso map.
From December to April, check for snow warnings before each mountain stage, especially in Palencia and León.
Layers for wind and cold: wind is one of the most common warnings in the mountains, and in January cold adds to it.
In June, watch for storms, and in summer check heat warnings too: the route's red-warning days have mostly been for heat.
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 Olvidado?

By warnings, May: on average, 2.5 warning days if you walk the 23 stages that month. Then September and April. The month with the most warnings is January, with 9.4 days.

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

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

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

In July and August, the section with the most heat warnings is Bizkaia: a heat warning on 13% of days, on average.

Can it snow on the Camino Olvidado?

Yes, above all on the mountain sections: snow warnings bunch up in the Cordillera Cantábrica de León, Cordillera Cantábrica de Palencia and Cordillera Cantábrica 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.