How hot does Madeira get? The Leste wind, heat warnings and where to cool off

Madeira has a reputation for being mild rather than hot, and the long term numbers back it up. August, the warmest month in Funchal, averages a daily high of 26.8 degrees. The warmest month on the island does not reach 27.

Then a few days a year arrive when none of that applies. The air turns dry and hazy, the thermometer reads well over 30, and IPMA puts the region under a heat warning.

This guide is about those days: how to see one coming, whether to move your plans up the mountain or across to the north coast, and how much the heat should influence where you book.

Funchal's normals for 1991 to 2020 run like this, as average daily high and average daily low:

• July: 25.6 and 19.8 degrees
• August: 26.8 and 20.9 degrees
• September: 26.5 and 20.6 degrees
• October: 25.1 and 19.3 degrees
• February, the coolest month: 19.8 and 14.1 degrees

The sea lags the air by about two months, which catches people out. It is coldest around 18 degrees from February to April, reaches 23 degrees in August, and peaks at 23.5 degrees in September. If swimming is the point of your trip, September and October beat July.

An average high of 26.8 means an ordinary week in August will feel pleasant rather than punishing. It also means half the days sit above that figure, and the spread is what the rest of this article deals with.

Madeira sits closer to North Africa than to Europe, and when the wind turns easterly it brings the Sahara with it. That wind has a name, the Leste, and it explains most of the island's hot weather.

The Leste is a hot, dry, easterly wind of Madeira and the Canaries. It is recorded most often in autumn, winter and spring and only rarely in the middle of summer, which is why the uncomfortable days cluster in late summer and autumn rather than in July. Its defining quality is dryness: it can drop the relative humidity in Funchal below 20 per cent, in a place that is normally humid and Atlantic. It usually arrives with clouds of fine red sand, so the light goes flat and brown, the horizon disappears, and everything you left on the balcony picks up a film of dust.

On temperature, be careful with the numbers you read. Climates to Travel puts the usual Leste ceiling at about 32 degrees, and the records for Funchal at 37 degrees, set in September 1988 and again in July 2012. An episode lasting two or three days is normal. Several times a year, then, Funchal spends a few days in the low thirties with unusually dry, hazy air, and once in a long while it goes higher.

These are also the days when fire risk climbs and when the mountains are least forgiving for walking. Our guide on whether Madeira is safe covers the wildfire side in detail.

Portugal's weather service, IPMA, issues warnings in three colours. Yellow means a situation that carries risk for particular weather dependent activities, such as being outdoors or on the road. Orange means dangerous conditions with moderate to high risk. Red is the top level and means extremely dangerous conditions, with the advice to stay out of the open and avoid travelling in the affected area.

IPMA does not warn Madeira as one lump. It splits the region into separate areas, and a heat warning will name them: Costa Norte, Costa Sul, the mountain regions and Porto Santo. They often carry different colours at the same time, and warnings run from a stated hour to a stated hour rather than covering whole days.

That is worth knowing because it tells you what to do with your day. An orange warning for the south coast while the mountains sit on yellow is a normal pattern during a Leste, and it says the coast is the problem and the high ground is not. Check ipma.pt for the warning covering your area before you cancel anything.

Altitude is the tool the island hands you, and the gap is wider than most visitors expect.

Funchal averages a daily high of 26.8 degrees in August. The weather station at Pico do Areeiro, at 1,610 metres, averages a daily maximum of 18.8 degrees in the same month, with overnight lows near 10.8. That is roughly eight degrees between the seafront and a summit you can drive to, or about five degrees for every thousand metres you climb. The summit is 1,818 metres, the third highest point on the island, and there is a car park and a restaurant at the top.

Smaller climbs help too. Paul da Serra, the plateau on the western side of the island, sits at 1,200 metres. Ribeiro Frio, whose name means cold river, lies in the laurel forest on the road north and is the starting point for several walks in deep shade. Bus 56 from Funchal to Santana runs via Ribeiro Frio, and bus 81 climbs to Curral das Freiras in the mountain bowl behind the city.

Even modest height changes how a hot night feels, and that is the part that matters when you book, because heat costs you sleep before it costs you anything else. A few hundred metres above the seafront is noticeably cooler than the seafront itself. The hills immediately above Funchal are the obvious compromise: cooler air and a view down over the bay, with the city still close enough for an easy trip in. If that is the trade you want, Madeira with Views lets rental properties in exactly that band above the city. Buses 20 and 21 connect Monte with central Funchal, and the cable car from the seafront is the scenic version of the same trip, at 16 euros one way and 22 euros return for an adult, free for children up to 6 and half price from 7 to 14, running 8:45 to 17:45 every day except Christmas Day.

Madeira's north is cooler than its south and gets more rain, year round. During a hot spell on the south coast, that turns from a drawback into the reason to go.

Porto Moniz in the northwest, São Vicente on the north coast and Santana in the northeast all sit on the cool side of the island's central ridge, which rises above 1,800 metres and splits the weather in two. Porto Moniz has the volcanic sea pools, a better prospect on a hot day than any beach in Funchal, and we cover them in the Porto Moniz guide. Rodoeste bus 139 runs Funchal to Porto Moniz by the north coast, bus 80 takes the southern route via Calheta and Prazeres in about two hours 40, and bus 103 reaches Santana and São Jorge.

The trade-off is real: those buses run a few times a day rather than frequently, the north is cloudier, and the weather that keeps it cool can leave you in low cloud all afternoon instead of sunshine. Going north on a hot day is a good move with a car and a slow one without.

Move anything strenuous to the early morning. The island's best known walks are exposed, and the path between Pico do Areeiro and Pico Ruivo stays high on open ridge, both peaks being over 1,800 metres, with very little shade along it. The sun here is strong enough to matter even in winter, and on a Leste day it is stronger than the air temperature suggests.

Then use the shade the island has. The laurel forest in the interior is dense, damp and cool, and the levada paths that run through it are the best hot weather walking here, with water beside you and a canopy overhead. Several are in our guide to self-guided levada walks. Swimming is the other answer, and the sea at 23 degrees in late summer does more for you than a pool.

For the middle of the day, much of what works in bad weather also works in heat, which is why our wet day guide is organised by area. Drink more than you think you need, given air that can be drier than 20 per cent humidity, and expect the dust to bother you if you wear contact lenses.

Come in winter or spring to be certain of avoiding it. February averages a daily high of 19.8 degrees in Funchal, and the whole run from January to May stays between 19.8 and 22.1. You pay for that with a sea at 18 degrees and a greater chance of rain.

Come in September or October if you want warm water. Those months have the sea at its warmest, 23.5 and 23 degrees, and they also fall inside the window when a Leste is most likely, so you are accepting a small chance of a hot, hazy few days in exchange for the best swimming of the year.

Whatever month you choose, check two things about the accommodation before you book for late summer: how high up it is, and what it has for cooling. A place a few hundred metres up handles a hot night far better than one at sea level, and you want to know whether you are getting air conditioning, a fan or neither.

How hot does Madeira get? Funchal averages a daily high of 26.8 degrees in August, the warmest month. During a Leste, the hot easterly off the Sahara, it typically reaches about 32 degrees, and the records for the city are 37 degrees, set in September 1988 and July 2012.

What is the Leste? A hot, dry easterly wind that carries Saharan air to Madeira and the Canaries. It can push Funchal's relative humidity below 20 per cent and usually brings fine red dust that flattens the light. Episodes commonly last two or three days, and they are recorded mostly outside the middle of summer, which is why late summer and autumn are when visitors meet them.

Where is it coolest on Madeira in summer? Up high and on the north coast. The station at Pico do Areeiro, 1,610 metres, averages a daily maximum of 18.8 degrees in August against Funchal's 26.8. Paul da Serra sits at 1,200 metres, and Porto Moniz, São Vicente and Santana are all on the cooler northern side of the ridge.

What does an orange heat warning mean for my holiday? That IPMA expects dangerous conditions with moderate to high risk in that specific area, for the stated hours. Madeira is warned as separate areas, Costa Norte, Costa Sul, the mountain regions and Porto Santo, so check which one covers you. In practice it means shifting hikes to early morning and heading uphill or north rather than writing off the day.

• Climates to Travel, Madeira for the Funchal 1991 to 2020 monthly normals, including the August average high of 26.8 degrees and low of 20.9, the February figures, the monthly sea temperatures from 18 degrees in late winter to 23.5 degrees in September, the usual Leste ceiling of about 32 degrees and the Funchal records of 37 degrees in September 1988 and July 2012.
• Leste on Wikipedia for the wind's definition as a hot, dry easterly of Madeira and the Canaries, its occurrence in autumn, winter and spring and rarity in summer, the relative humidity in Funchal falling below 20 per cent, and the clouds of fine red sand.
• Pico do Areeiro on Wikipedia for the summit altitude of 1,818 metres, its rank as the third highest peak, the weather station elevation of 1,610 metres and the 1961 to 1990 normals giving an August mean daily maximum of 18.8 degrees and minimum of 10.8.
• Visit Madeira, Pico do Areeiro and Madeira Web for the road access to the summit, the car park and the restaurant.
• Madeira Cable Car for the Funchal to Monte fares of 16 euros one way and 22 euros return, free travel for children up to 6 and half price from 7 to 14, and operating hours of 8:45 to 17:45 daily except Christmas Day.
• Madeira Web, buses for Horários do Funchal lines 20 and 21 to Monte, 56 to Santana via Ribeiro Frio, 81 to Curral das Freiras and 103 to Arco de São Jorge via Santana, and Rodoeste lines 139 and 80 to Porto Moniz.
• DNotícias for IPMA warning practice in Madeira, the separate warning areas Costa Norte, Costa Sul, Porto Santo and the mountain regions, and the use of timed yellow and orange heat warnings.
• Stan Lester, Madeira mini-guide, 2023, for the north of the island being cooler and wetter than the south, the uplands being cold with winter frosts, Paul da Serra as a plateau at 1,200 metres, Ribeiro Frio and its walks, and the strength of the sun on the island even in winter.