Climate - Leon (Castile and Leon)

The climate of León is slightly continental, with moderately cold winters and hot, sunny summers, though with cool nights.
The city is located in the Autonomous Community of Castile and León, at 840 meters (2,700 feet) above sea level, and a short distance from the Cantabrian mountains. We are in the north-western part of the Spanish plateau, where the influence of cool Atlantic air masses is more frequent.
The average temperature of the coldest month (January) is of 3.2 °C (38 °F), that of the warmest month (July) is of 19.8 °C (68 °F). Here are the average temperatures.

Precipitation amounts to 515 millimeters (20.3 inches) per year. It ranges from 20 mm (0.8 in) in the driest month (July) to 65 mm (2.6 in) in the wettest (December). Therefore, the rains are not abundant, even though they are quite frequent from October to May. Here is the average precipitation.

The winter, from December to February, is quite cold. At night, the temperature often drops below freezing, moreover, in periods of good weather, fog can form.
At times, there may also be very cold periods.
On the coldest nights of the year, the temperature generally drops to -7/-8 °C (18/19 °F). The coldest record is -17.5 °C (0.5 °F) and dates back to January 1945. From 2000 to 2020, the lowest temperature was -15 °C (5 °F), recorded in December 2009.
Snowfalls in León are quite frequent, and can sometimes be quite abundant (up to 40 centimeters or 15.5 inches). Sometimes it can snow even in April.

The Summer, from June to August, is warm during the day, while nights are cool. The sun often shines, although there may be some rain or thunderstorms, especially in June. At night, it can get cold even in July and August.
Sometimes, there may be very hot periods, generally of short duration and less intense than in Madrid and the rest of the Meseta. On the hottest days of the year, the temperature typically rises to 34/35 °C (93/95 °F). The highest record is 38 °C (100.5 °F), recorded in August 1987.



On average, there are around 2,670 sunshine hours per year. Here are the average sunshine hours per day.

Best Time

The best time to visit León runs from June to September, since it is the warmest and sunniest period of the year. Sometimes it can be hot, while in other circumstances, nights can be cool or even cold, so it can be useful to bring a sweatshirt or sweater and a light jacket for the evening, and maybe gloves and a wool hat, which take up little space and can be useful on colder nights.
If you fear the heat, you can choose the periods from mid-May to mid-June and from mid-September to mid-October (when, however, it rains more often, and it gets more easily cold at night).