Today's weather for Alvor, Portugal21st Nov 2009 22:00

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Weather Overview for Alvor

Alvor is a coastal resort town in the famous Algarve region of southern Portugal. Alvor is just to the west of the town of Portimao and about 60kms west of Faro.

The Algarve boasts fantastic beaches and a superb climate that has seen it become one of Europe’s most popular holiday destinations. With an annual average of 3000 sunshine hours, Alvor lies in one of the sunniest spots in Europe. With a little over 500mm of average rainfall per year Alvor is not a wet place, but expect some rainfall in late autumn and winter.

Although Alvor has built its reputation as a summer destination, spring and autumn can also be fantastic times to visit.

Summer

The summers are long and hot in this part of the world. May and June are very sunny too with daily highs easily in the 20s. Temperatures average 24°C in the peak summer months of July and August, with daily highs soaring up to the 30s and lows never dropping far below 20°C. The summer weather really lasts through September, with temperatures regularly in the high 20s in the day, and into October which sees an average high of 23°C.

Thankfully the coastal location of Alvor means it benefits from cooling sea breezes coming off the Atlantic on the hot summer days. Humidity is not high in summer either, a little over 60%, making conditions very comfortable.

Sunshine is in abundance throughout the season with midsummer averaging a whopping 12 sunshine hours per day.

Rainfall is very low – the period between June and September sees just 5% of annual rainfall and in July and August it is rare to see any rain at all.

Winter

Winter is very mild in Alvor. This is thanks to the southerly location as well as the Gulf Stream that brings warm waters from across the Atlantic to the Portuguese coast.

January is the coldest month on average at 12°C, but even then temperatures don’t drop far into single figures. At night the temperature will usually drop to 7°C or 8°C but rarely lower. Daily highs can reach the high teens in winter and sometimes get up to 20°C so it really is a great place to escape the cold winters elsewhere in Europe.

However, winter, and late autumn, is the wettest time of year in Alvor. October to February accounts for nearly three quarters of the annual rainfall. December is the wettest month, typically seeing more than 90mm of rainfall. Atlantic storms can hit Alvor and the surrounding regions. These can bring several days of wet and windy weather. Although unpleasant while they last, the clouds rarely linger after a storm and leave the winter months still with plenty of sunshine – a healthy 6 hours per day on average.

Like anywhere, the region can experience out of the ordinary weather. A recent example of this was the extreme cold snap in January 2006 that saw freezing temperatures and snow fall on the beaches. This remains a very rare occurrence indeed.

Spring and Autumn

Spring and autumn enjoy some great weather. For those looking for an active holiday, these are perhaps the best times as temperatures are more comfortable than in the hot summer months.

You can pretty much count May and October as summer months. April enjoys good weather too with daily highs above 20s and an average of 9 sunshine hours a day. March has a lot of good sunny days too, although nights and early mornings are still a little chilly.

October is a warm month, with highs averaging 23°C and lows 14°C. Rainfall starts to increase throughout this month though. November is one of the wettest months of the year but the temperatures can still climb to 20°C in the day and sunshine prevails for more than 6 hours a day on average.

The good weather combined with quieter crowds make these two seasons an excellent time to visit.

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