Weather in Spain

Spain is situated in the Northern hemisphere and is a reasonably big country. Being a large country there are various climatic zones within the same country. Climate of a country is largely dependent on relief features of that land and when we look at the relief features of Spain, we see that there is vast difference in the relief features of the coastal areas and the interiors. The lowland formed by the river Guadalquivir and also the highlands of Sierra Nevada occupy the southern part of Spain and the Sierra Nevada is a major relief feature on the coasts of the Mediterranean Sea.

Therefore it is evident that Spain enjoys diverse climate and weather changes, in fact Spain is known for its diverse climates and there is a saying that in Spain you might enjoy the snow fall in one part of the country while in the other you might just enjoy the cool breeze of the sea with your swimsuit on. This diversity and variety in weather condition comes from the vastness of the landmass of Spain. The eastern part of Spain experiences weather conditions that are far dissimilar to weather conditions in the western part and similarly the weather in North Spain varies from weather in South Spain. Spain has many mountains and its weather is also affected by the influence of two water bodies namely, Mediterranean and Atlantic. Let us take a brief look at the various climates and the zones, which experience these climates.

Different Weather Zones

Spain can be fairly divided into the following three weather zones except for Canary Islands where it is pleasant throughout the year, summers and winters being mild and rainfall being scarce. These islands are favorite tourist destination in Spain and they roughly have the same kind of climate though when studied in detail it can be observed that every island has one or the other unique weather aspect.

Continental Weather Zone-The Central region of Spain experiences the Continental kind of weather, so we can say if you are in Madrid you would experience the Continental weather. Continental weather would mean extremes of temperature with little rainfall so when the temperature increases it might rise up to 30 to 40 degree Celsius and when it starts decreasing it might fall below 4 degree Celsius.

Maritime Weather Zone - As we understand by "maritime", the weather never reaches the extremes and is moderate most of the time which is due to the influence of an adjacent water body and the land breeze and sea breeze that works against the prevalent climate. Therefore north and northwest part of Spain, being close to the Atlantic Ocean experience climate that is neither hot and neither cold. Winters are not cold and summers are not hot because in summer the cool sea breeze creates a cooling effect and similarly in winter the hot sea breeze does not let the temperature go really low. This region receives high rainfall due to the proximity to the sea

Mediterranean Weather Zone- Mediterranean Weather is primarily hot and even in winters there are hardly cold days though the atmosphere becomes cool and this kind of weather can be found in the eastern coast of Spain. The duration that this region receives sunshine is more than average - during summers the duration of sunshine is somewhere around twelve hours a day and in winters it is around six hours a day. Though there is hardly a season which can be called winter yet this is one of the most visited regions of Spain owing to the beach like climate which is favorite for the visitors who take a break from the cold climates of their countries. In this zone rainfall is moderate and comes mostly as a part of the sea storms.