Air temperature, rain and cloud
We use the ERA5 and ERA5-Land reanalyses from the EU’s Copernicus Climate Change Service, blended with ECMWF’s high-resolution analysis by the Open-Meteo historical weather API. A reanalysis combines weather station, satellite, balloon and aircraft observations with a weather model to give a consistent hour-by-hour record for every point on the globe.
For each of our 72 destinations we take every day from 1 January 2011 to 31 December 2025, about 5,500 days, and work out, for each calendar month:
- Average high and low: the mean of the daily maximum and minimum air temperature at 2 metres.
- Rainy days: the average number of days with 2 mm of rain or more in the model data. Weather stations usually count days with 1 mm or more, but a model spreads rain over more days than a rain gauge records: at 1 mm it counted 20–50% too many rainy days in the places we checked against station averages. At 2 mm the counts come close (for example Málaga, Seville and Mallorca within about three days a year).
- Rain: the average monthly total in millimetres.
- Sky: the average cloud cover. Up to 25% we say “mostly clear”, up to 45% “some cloud”, up to 65% “often cloudy”, and above that “mostly cloudy”. A “clear day” averages 30% cloud or less.
- Warm days: the share of days whose high reached 20°C, 25°C and 35°C. This shows how reliable the warmth is, which an average alone can hide.
We use 15 recent years rather than the older 30-year “climate normal” because the climate has warmed: recent years are a better guide to what you’ll find.
Sea temperature
Sea surface temperatures come from the Copernicus Marine Service global ocean analysis (Météo-France), through the Open-Meteo marine API, at a point just offshore from each destination. This record starts in 2022, so sea averages cover 2023–2025, which is only three years, and they were warmer than usual in many seas. Treat them as a guide to within a degree or so.
Why we don’t show sunshine hours
We tested the sunshine-hours figure that model data provides against published weather-station averages. It read 40–60% too high: for example, about 13.7 hours a day in Rome in July, against roughly 11 hours measured. Rather than show a number we know is wrong, we show cloud cover, which the reanalysis handles much better.
Limits worth knowing
- A grid point, not a weather station. The data describes grid squares roughly 10–25 km across. Coasts, mountains and valleys can be a degree or two warmer or cooler than our figure. We checked our results against well-known station averages (Tenerife, Málaga, Seville, Lisbon, Athens, Marrakech, Rome); highs were usually within about 1°C.
- Islands and resorts vary. On big or mountainous islands (Tenerife, Gran Canaria, Madeira, Crete, Mallorca) the sunny south coast and the hills can differ a lot. We use the point named on each page.
- Averages, not forecasts. A particular week can be much warmer or cooler. The “how warm it really gets” chart on each month page shows the spread.
Flying times
Flying times are estimates, not timetables: 30 minutes for take-off and landing plus the great-circle distance at about 820 km/h, rounded to 15 minutes. Checked against real schedules (Dublin–Málaga, Dublin–Tenerife, London–Dubai) they’re usually within about 20 minutes, but headwinds make westbound flights longer. They assume a direct flight; many long-haul trips from Ireland need a connection.
Credits and licences
Weather data by Open-Meteo.com, licensed under CC BY 4.0. Contains modified Copernicus Climate Change Service information (2026) and E.U. Copernicus Marine Service information. Neither the European Commission nor ECMWF is responsible for any use of this information.
Spotted something that looks wrong? Tell us at the address on our contact page and we’ll check it.