Climate - Ponferrada (Castile and Leon)

The climate of Ponferrada is slightly continental, with quite cold, rainy winters and warm, sunny summers (but with some cool and rainy periods).
The city is located in the north-western part of the Autonomous Community of Castile and León, in a valley at an altitude of 550 meters (1,800 feet). All around are mountains: to the north the Serra dos Ancares, with the summit of the French route of the Camino de Santiago (Alto do Poio), to the south and east the montes de León, which also include the Cruz de Ferro.
From the Atlantic Ocean, rain and mild air arrive for many months of the year, while in summer, there are several warm and sunny periods due to the Azores anticyclone (as also happens in southern Galicia).
The average temperature of the coldest month (January) is of 4.9 °C (41 °F), that of the warmest month (July) is of 21.8 °C (71 °F). Here are the average temperatures.

Precipitation amounts to 650 millimeters (25.6 inches) per year: so, it is at an intermediate level. It ranges from 25 mm (1 in) in the driest months (July, August) to 90 mm (3.5 in) in the wettest (December). Here is the average precipitation.

The winter, from December to February, is quite cold. Average temperatures are not very low, but at night it gets cold, and 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 -6/-7 °C (19/21 °F). The coldest record is -10.5 °C (13 °F) and dates back to January 1945. From 2000 to 2020, the lowest temperature was -9.5 °C (15 °F), recorded in December 2001.
Snowfalls in Ponferrada are quite frequent, because cold air tends to stagnate in the valley.

The summer, from June to August, is warm and sunny.
There are hot and sunny periods, sometimes even very hot, which alternate with cooler and rainy periods, in which Atlantic disturbances prevail. In cooler periods, the temperature can drop to 10 °C (50 °F) or even below at night.
On average, the temperature exceeds 35 °C (95 °F) for 6/7 days a year. The highest recorded temperature is 40.5 °C (105 °F) and dates back to July 1951. More recently, the temperature reached 39.5 °C (103 °F) in August 1987 and 39 °C (102 °F) in June 2017.



On average, there are around 2,315 sunshine hours per year. Here are the average sunshine hours per day.

Best Time

To visit Ponferrada, you can choose the periods from mid-May to mid-June and from mid-September to mid-October. In summer, there are times when the heat is pleasant and others when it is intense. However, even in summer, it can be useful to bring a sweatshirt and a light jacket for cool evenings.