Travel TipsSep 26, 202610 min read
How hot does Madeira get? The Leste wind, heat warnings and where to cool off
Funchal's warmest month averages a daily high of 26.8 degrees, so Madeira is mild rather than hot. Then the Leste arrives, the hot dry easterly off the Sahara that can drop the city's humidity below 20 per cent and fill the air with fine red dust, typically pushing the thermometer to about 32 degrees for two or three days. What the monthly normals and sea temperatures actually are, how to read IPMA's yellow, orange and red warnings and the separate areas they name, why the weather station at Pico do Areeiro averages 18.8 degrees in August against Funchal's 26.8, and what to do with a 35 degree day: the laurel forest, the north coast, the fares and buses that get you there, and how height should shape where you book.
