Warmest Places in Europe in December (Official Data)

Cover image: Sun loungers and parasols on Playa Honda beach at Los Cristianos, Tenerife, with a ferry offshore — photo by Mike Peel (www.mikepeel.net), CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

The warmest place in Europe in December is the Canary Islands — specifically south Tenerife. On the 1991–2020 climate normals published by national weather services, the Tenerife Sur airport station averages a daily high of 23.7°C (74.7°F), a low of 16.5°C (61.7°F) and 215 hours of December sunshine. Lanzarote, Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Gran Canaria and Fuerteventura all average 22–22.7°C highs. Everything below is ranked from one consistent dataset — the WMO 1991–2020 normals that Spain, Cyprus, Italy and Türkiye submitted — with Madeira, the Algarve, Crete, Malta and Antalya filled in from their own national met services. Every figure names its station and normals period, which is more than any page-1 listicle bothers to do.

Where is the warmest place in Europe in December?

The Canary Islands, by a distance. Five Canary stations top the ranking, and the gap between fifth-placed Fuerteventura (22.0°C) and sixth-placed Funchal, Madeira (21.0°C) is bigger than it looks — Madeira is also roughly three times as wet. If you want the single warmest answer: south Tenerife, the Tenerife Sur airport station at 64 m elevation. Note these are airport and city stations, not resorts — "Tenerife Sur airport station" does not mean your hotel pool in Playa de las Américas reads exactly 23.7°C, but it is the closest official number to it.

How warm are the Canary Islands in December, island by island?

All five figures below are WMO 1991–2020 normals, December means of daily maxima and minima:

• Tenerife Sur (south airport, 64 m): high 23.7°C (74.7°F), low 16.5°C (61.7°F), 215.0 hours of sun, 3.2 days with at least 1 mm of rain, 33.3 mm total.
• Lanzarote airport (14 m): high 22.7°C (72.9°F), low 14.9°C (58.8°F), 207.7 hours of sun, 3.2 rain days, 21.4 mm.
• Santa Cruz de Tenerife (city, north-east coast, 35 m): high 22.6°C (72.7°F), low 16.8°C (62.2°F), 177.8 hours of sun, 4.9 rain days, 36.8 mm.
• Gran Canaria airport (32 m): high 22.3°C (72.1°F), low 16.7°C (62.1°F), 187.9 hours of sun, 4.0 rain days, 25.9 mm.
• Fuerteventura airport: high 22.0°C (71.6°F), low 16.3°C (61.3°F), 184.1 hours of sun, 2.6 rain days, 19.3 mm — the driest of the five.

Spain's own AEMET 1981–2010 tables run a touch cooler (Tenerife Sur 22.8°C, Lanzarote 21.8°C), which is what you would expect from an older, cooler normals period — always check which period a quoted figure comes from. December flights to the islands are a different question from December weather; our cheapest ways to fly to Europe covers the booking side.

Is Madeira warmer or wetter than the Canaries in December?

Milder, and much wetter. Funchal (station 522, 58 m) on Portugal's IPMA 1991–2020 normals averages a high of 21.0°C (69.8°F) and a low of 15.5°C (59.9°F), with 94.8 mm of rain on about 8.6 days — December is Funchal's wettest month in that table. The PDF gives no sunshine figure. So Madeira runs about 1–2.7°C cooler by day than the Canary stations and takes roughly three times the rain. Its consolation prize: the December record high is 27.1°C, set on 7 December 2018. If the choice is "Canary Islands or Madeira in December", the Canaries win on both warmth and dryness; Madeira wins on scenery and levada walking.

Where is warmest in mainland Europe in December?

Mainland Spain and the Algarve, and none of it is sunbathing territory:

• Málaga airport: high 18.0°C (64.4°F), low 9.2°C (48.6°F), 151.9 hours of sun, 5.6 rain days, 87.9 mm.
• Almería airport: high 17.9°C (64.2°F), low 9.7°C (49.5°F), 184.7 hours of sun, 3.0 rain days, 31.8 mm — nearly the same warmth as Málaga with a third of the rain.
• Seville (San Pablo airport): high 16.8°C (62.2°F), low 7.4°C (45.3°F), 185.9 hours of sun, 6.5 rain days, 77.2 mm. Pleasant afternoons, chilly nights.
• Faro, Algarve (5 m): high 17.1°C (62.8°F), low 9.7°C (49.5°F), mean 13.4°C, 90.0 mm on 7.0 rain days (IPMA 1991–2020). IPMA flags the Faro series as "Série híbrida" — gaps filled with model data, values subject to revision.

All four are WMO 1991–2020 unless noted. Expect T-shirt afternoons and jacket evenings, and if you are pairing the trip with festive cities instead, see our European Christmas market dates for the cold-weather alternative.

How do Cyprus, Malta and Crete compare in December?

Cyprus beats the mainland on warmth: Pafos airport averages a high of 19.3°C (66.7°F) and Larnaka 18.9°C (66.0°F), with 177–181 hours of December sun and around 95–98 mm of rain. Ignore any rain-day counts quoted for Cyprus from the WMO file — Larnaka's 25.8 and Pafos's 28.6 days are malformed in the source file (Pafos's row is also shifted by a column); rainfall in millimetres is the reliable figure. Crete (Iraklio) averages a high of 17.1°C (62.8°F), low 10.9°C (51.6°F) and 85.6 mm — but note the older 1955–2010 period, and that its 15.2 "precipitation days" use a different definition from the ≥1 mm counts elsewhere, so do not compare them. Malta (Luqa) has no published mean maximum; the Met Office's December 2023 round-up implies a December mean of about 14.5°C (58.1°F) with roughly 84.8 mm of rain and 165.7 hours of sun. Travellers heading to the Greek islands should also know the tipping customs differ from home — see do you tip in Greece.

Is Antalya warm in December, and does it count as Europe?

Geography first: Antalya and Alanya sit on Türkiye's Mediterranean coast, which is geographically in Asia — as is Cyprus, though Cyprus is an EU member. The Canaries and Madeira lie off Africa but are Spanish and Portuguese territory. Europe here means the broad holiday definition, and you should know where the line is.

As for warmth: Alanya averages a high of 18.1°C (64.6°F) but takes 251.2 mm of rain on 10.9 days, and Antalya airport 16.7°C (62.1°F) with 274.5 mm on 8.9 days — December is Antalya's wettest month in both the WMO and Turkish met service tables. Warm-ish by day, and the wettest stop in this ranking. Sicily's Trapani Birgi station (west coast, 16.3°C high, 139.1 hours of sun, 72.0 mm on 10.1 days) is the dimmest of the lot — and note it is Trapani, not Palermo; there is no Palermo file in the WMO set. Sicily visitors can check tipping etiquette in Italy before they go.

Where gets the most December sunshine?

Tenerife Sur again: 215 hours, about 6.9 a day, then Lanzarote at 207.7. At the other end, Trapani manages 139.1 hours (4.5 a day) — the gloomiest candidate in the set. One warning from the Malta data: averages are not forecasts. Malta's December 2023 ran 1.4°C above its norm with 40 fewer sunshine hours, peaked at 23.4°C on the 2nd and bottomed at 10.3°C. December weather varies year to year everywhere on this list.

How we built this ranking (stations, normals periods, what the numbers mean)

"Max/min" means the December mean of daily maximum and minimum temperatures — the average afternoon high and the average night-time low. The backbone is the WMO 1991–2020 climatological standard normals collected from 141 countries and distributed by NOAA's National Centers for Environmental Information: each station CSV gives the 30-year December mean, and we used those directly. Where the WMO set has no coverage — Madeira and the Algarve (Portugal's IPMA 1991–2020 PDFs), Crete (HNMS 1955–2010, an older period, flagged), Malta (norms derived from the Met Office's December 2023 anomalies, period unstated) and Antalya (cross-checked against the Turkish met service's 1930–2025 table) — the source column says so. Spain's AEMET 1981–2010 values were used only as a cross-check. If you are visiting from outside the Schengen area, check our Schengen visa guide — Spain, Portugal, Italy, Malta and Greece are in; Cyprus is EU but not yet Schengen, and Türkiye is neither.

Frequently asked questions

What is the warmest place in Europe in December?

On 1991–2020 normals, south Tenerife: the Tenerife Sur station averages a 23.7°C (74.7°F) high, a 16.5°C low and 215 hours of sun in December. Lanzarote, Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Gran Canaria and Fuerteventura all average 22–22.7°C.

Is Madeira warm in December?

Mild rather than hot: Funchal averages 21.0°C by day and 15.5°C at night, with 94.8 mm of rain on about 8.6 days (IPMA 1991–2020) — December is its wettest month.

Is mainland Spain warm enough in December?

Málaga averages an 18.0°C high and Almería 17.9°C, with Almería much drier (31.8 mm vs 87.9 mm). Seville averages 16.8°C by day but 7.4°C at night.

Is Cyprus or Malta warmer in December?

Pafos and Larnaka average 18.9–19.3°C highs with about 177–181 hours of sun. Malta's Met Office implies a December mean (not high) of about 14.5°C — compare means with means, not highs.

Sources

• NOAA NCEI — WMO 1991–2020 Climate Normals (station CSVs: Tenerife Sur 60025, Santa Cruz 60020, Gran Canaria 60030, Lanzarote 60040, Fuerteventura 60035, Málaga 8482, Almería 8487, Sevilla 8391, Pafos 17600, Larnaka 17609, Trapani Birgi 16429, Antalya 17300, Alanya 17310)
• IPMA — Normal Climatológica 1991–2020, Funchal (station 522)
• IPMA — Normal Climatológica 1991–2020, Faro (station 554)
• Hellenic National Meteorological Service — Climatic Data by City, Iraklio (1955–2010)
• Malta Meteorological Office — December 2023 Weather round-up
• Turkish State Meteorological Service (MGM) — Antalya official statistics (1930–2025)