Portugal

What’s the weather like in Portugal in October?

Portugal’s the furthest west country in Europe, and has different weather depending on where you're staying. If you're going there in October you can generally look forward to having nice warm weather, although as it’s autumn there’ll probably be some rain.

Climatic variances

The north and south of Portugal have different weather, as do coastal spots and places close to the mountains. The south has fairly typical Mediterranean weather, with the Algarve enjoying the country’s sunniest and driest weather. The west coast is heated by the Gulf Stream the further north you go, while coastal areas in general benefit from cool breezes that will keep you comfortable in October and temperatures are higher inland. Madeira’s a lovely island that’s closer to Africa than Portugal, and has even hotter weather than the mainland.

Averages

The capital Lisbon’s on the west coast, and gives a good idea of Portugal’s weather. It has an average high temperature of 23ºC in October, so you'll only need light clothes for the day. You should bring some warmer things for the evenings as, though it’s still quite pleasant, temperatures fall to 15ºC at night. At 20ºC, the sea’s still at its annual high temperature, while humidity’s low and ranges from the mid-50s to mid-90s%. Rain picks up as autumn goes on, with an average of 101mm across 11 rainy days, although there’ll be less than this in the Algarve.

Daylight

During October you can expect 11 hours of daylight with seven hours of sunshine each day. Remember to bring your sun cream as UV levels will be moderate, while sunset’s around 7.20pm at the start of October, and gradually gets earlier until the end of daylight saving takes another hour off this towards the end of the month.