Picos de Europa weather: warnings stage by stage, month by month

Picos de Europa, Cangas de Onís to Cangas de Onís, in 7 stages. Warnings 2019–2025; updated 27 October 2026.

The Picos de Europa loop links Asturias, Cantabria and León: from Cangas de Onís to Cabrales, Potes and Fuente Dé, and back through Valdeón and Riaño. It's a mountain route with mountain warnings: snow and wind in winter, storms in June. This is what the official warnings say, stretch by stretch and month by month.

May

the month with the fewest warnings

0.8 warning days driving the whole route

January

the month with the most warnings

2.8 warning days in 7 stages

warning zones

in 3 provinces

red days on some stage

2019 to 2025

It's seven stretches through three zones, one per region. All three get more warning days than Spain's typical zone, and the Cordillera Cantábrica de León quite a lot more. For each stretch we count the warning days in the zones it crosses, and add them up month by month.

May and July are the best months. January and December are the busiest, and from November to April snow and wind top the reasons for a warning. June, with storms, is also among the busiest months.

In all three zones the yellow snow warning starts at 5 cm, and the wind one at gusts of 80 km/h in Cantabria and León and 90 km/h in Asturias. In the last eight years the red warning days on the route have been 14 and 15 November 2019, for snow, wind and rain; 9 October 2024, for rain and wind; 8 and 9 December 2024, for rain, wind and snow; and, for heat, 11 August 2024, 15 August 2025 and 23 and 24 June 2026.

The Picos de Europa's warning zones

AEMET doesn't warn by village but by zone. The Picos de Europa crosses 3 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.

Driving the whole route, month by month

How many warning days you'd get, on average, driving one stretch a day from Cangas de Onís to Cangas de Onís in each month. Tap a month to see it stage by stage.

yelloworangered

2.8Jan 1.7Feb 1.8Mar 1.3Apr 0.8May 1.9Jun 0.9Jul 1.1Aug 1.0Sep 1.4Oct 1.7Nov 2.1Dec

Stage-days with a warning, average 2019–2025, over 7 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. Cangas de Onís – Arenas de Cabrales	30	20	23	17	10	27	9	11	13	20	22	26
2. Arenas de Cabrales – Panes	30	20	23	17	10	27	9	11	13	20	22	26
3. Panes – Potes	34	22	25	18	13	30	13	15	16	23	24	29
4. Potes – Fuente Dé	31	17	20	11	9	25	11	14	12	19	20	24
5. Fuente Dé – Posada de Valdeón	53	30	30	22	14	30	18	20	18	22	28	36
6. Posada de Valdeón – Riaño	48	26	26	19	10	23	15	17	11	17	26	31
7. Riaño – Cangas de Onís	53	30	30	23	13	30	17	19	17	22	28	35

The Picos de Europa section by section

Asturias: Cangas de Onís – Panes

From Cangas de Onís to Panes through Arenas de Cabrales. Rain is the top reason for a warning, with wind and snow behind it; January and June are the busiest months.

Most common: rain, wind and snow. Most warnings in January and June; fewest in July and May.

Liébana: Panes – Fuente Dé

From Panes to Fuente Dé through Potes. Here wind brings more warnings than rain, and Liébana is, by a small margin, the zone on the route with the most wind warnings. January and June are the busiest months.

Most common: wind, rain and snow. Most warnings in January and June; fewest in May and July.

León: Fuente Dé – Cangas de Onís

From Fuente Dé to Riaño through Posada de Valdeón, and back to Cangas de Onís. It's the most-warned part of the route: the Cordillera Cantábrica de León is the zone with the most snow warnings, and January and December the busiest months.

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

The worst days on the Picos de Europa

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

red14 November 2019: red warning on 7 of 7 stages, for wind and snow · the episode
red15 November 2019: red warning on 7 of 7 stages, for rain and snow · the episode
red9 October 2024: red warning on 7 of 7 stages, for rain and wind · the episode
red8 December 2024: red warning on 7 of 7 stages, for rain, wind and snow · the episode
orange22 January 2019: orange warning on 7 of 7 stages, for rain, cold and snow · the episode
orange23 January 2019: orange warning on 7 of 7 stages, for rain, wind and snow · the episode
orange1 February 2019: orange warning on 7 of 7 stages, for wind and snow · the episode
orange2 February 2019: orange warning on 7 of 7 stages, for wind and snow · the episode

When a warning is issued on the Picos de Europa

Thresholds change from zone to zone. These are the yellow ones in the Picos de Europa's zones:

Zone	Heat	Cold	Wind	Rain 1 h	Snow 24 h
Cordillera y Picos de Europa	34 °C	−6 °C	90 km/h	15 mm	5 cm
Liébana	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

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

Tips for the Picos de Europa

Check AEMET's forecast the evening before each stretch, and the zone's warnings on the Climaviso map.
From November to April, check the mountain passes with the DGT before each stretch and carry chains: snow and wind are the most common warnings in those months.
With a wind warning, take care on passes and exposed viewpoints, especially in a campervan or towing a trailer.
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 stretch, but it does mean you should keep an eye out.

Frequently asked questions

What's the best month to drive the Picos de Europa?

By warnings, May: on average, 0.8 warning days if you drive the 7 stretches that month. Then July and September. The month with the most warnings is January, with 2.8 days.

Which section of the Picos de Europa gets the most rain warnings?

León: on average, a rain warning on 8% of days, mostly in May, June and September.

Does the Picos de Europa get hot enough for warnings in summer?

In July and August, the section with the most heat warnings is León: a heat warning on 9% of days, on average.

Can it snow on the Picos de Europa?

Yes, above all on the mountain sections: snow warnings bunch up in the Cordillera Cantábrica de León, Cordillera y Picos de Europa and Liébana 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 route?

A yellow warning calls for attention, not cancelling: check the forecast and the DGT road status before setting off. With snow or strong wind, avoid mountain passes and mountain roads. With orange or red, follow Civil Protection's advice and put the stretch off if you can.

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.