Located on Spain’s southeastern Costa Blanca in the south of the Valencian Community, Alicante features one of Europe’s sunniest and warmest climates.
Climate: hot semi-arid
Sunshine
For the best representation of how sunny a given place is, we look at the number of clear days (defined as days with cloud cover below 20%), partly cloudy days (cloud cover between 20-80%) and overcast days (cloud cover over 80%). For more information check the first answer in FAQ.
Total clear days a year: 116
Total partly cloudy days a year: 195.3
Total overcast days a year: 54.1
Alicante is a great place for everyone who enjoys plenty of sunshine. With 116 clear days and 195 partly cloudy days, gray skies are rare. If you prefer some variability in the form of a mix between clear days and a partly sunny weather, Alicante is a great choice as it features more partly cloudy days than clear days.
Day Length
Shortest day length: 9:29:37 (December 22, 8:15 am – 5:45 pm)
Longest day length: 14:50:22 (June 21, 6:38 am – 9:28 pm)
Latest sunrise: 8:19 am (January 2-9)
Earliest sunset: 5:41 pm (December 1-13)
Earliest sunrise: 6:37 am (June 10-17)
Latest sunset: 9:29 pm (June 22-July 4)
Alicante is a great destination for those who prefer long afternoons and evenings over early sunrise. With sunset never earlier than 5:41 pm, even during winter it’s getting dark around 6 pm. Summers are even better because it gets dark past 9:30 pm.
However, this means that sunrise is always late, which can be inconvenient if you wake up early. During the summer, you have to wait until 6:37 am for sunrise, while waking up early during the winter may prove difficult: sun is up around 8:20 am which means over two dark hours if you get up at 6 AM or earlier.
Average Temperatures
Mean daily maximum shows the maximum temperature of an average day, while mean daily minimum shows the minimum temperature of an average day. These are the temperatures you’re most likely to experience.
Hottest days and coldest nights show the average of the hottest days and coldest nights of each month of the last 30 years. If you don’t like what you’re seeing please be aware that the numbers here are the 30-year averages of the extremes of each month. You have to be prepared for such days to happen, but it doesn’t mean that they happen every day.
For shorts and t-shirt weather, Alicante is most pleasant in March-June and September-November which means that approximately seven months feature great weather.
The hottest summer months – July and August – can get so hot (up to 39 °C or 102 °F) that being active during the day might prove difficult or impossible. This can also happen in June and September with hottest days reaching respectively 36 °C (97 °F) and 35 °C (95 °F).
During the coldest months between December and March, average max temperatures don’t go above 18 °C (64 °F). While you probably won’t wear shorts during the winter except for the hottest days, the average temperatures during the day are still comfortable enough not to complain about the cold most of the time.
However, mornings and evenings can get cold, with temperatures dropping to 6-7 °C (43-44 °F). This means that during the winter you’ll definitely need some (light) winter clothes, particularly if you like to head out in the evenings. To stay comfortable at night at home, you’ll also need some thick blankets and/or a heater.
Please note that on the coldest nights temperatures can drop below freezing. If you never again want to experience very cold weather, Alicante is not the place for you – or at least it isn’t during its coldest months.
Maximum Temperatures
Maximum temperatures show how many days per month reach a certain temperature. This number is useful to determine how many warm and cold days there are in a given month.
During the summer, temperatures often go above 30 °C (86 °F) and sometimes even reach 35 °C (95 °F) and more. If you dislike extreme heat, Alicante during the summer (particularly July and August) is not the right place for you.
The coldest months feature up to two weeks of temperatures over 15 °C (59 °F) and two weeks of temperatures between 10-15 °C (50-59 °F). Maximum temperatures rarely fall below 10 °C (50 °F), but sometimes it happens. If one of your requirements is that it’s never cold(ish) during the day, Alicante may not be the right choice as you’ll probably have to deal with about 6-7 weeks of maximum daily temperatures between 10-15 °C (50-59 °F).
Precipitation
Precipitation shows on how many days per month it rains – and if so, how much.
The climate of Alicante is semi-arid, meaning that it rains rarely and if it rains, it usually rains only a little. Even during the month with most rainy days, February, there are still almost 23 dry days. Heavy rain is almost unheard of, and even moderate amounts of rain are not common. If you don’t like rain, you’ll enjoy Alicante’s lack of significant precipitation.
Humidity
For the simplest indicator of how humid a given location is, we look at its average dew point temperature.
The higher the dew point is, the more moisture there is in the air. This affects how effectively your body can cool itself with perspiration and how sticky the weather feels. A lower dew point means that there’s less moisture in the air and your body can more effectively cool itself.
For the easiest explanation:
- the greater the difference between current temperature and dew point, the drier the weather feels. Conversely, the lower the difference, the more humid it feels.
- during summer, the higher the dew point is, the stickier the weather feels. Generally speaking, dew point temperature higher than 18 °C (65 °F) feels sticky for most people. 21-24 °C (70-75 °F) and higher dew point temperature is uncomfortably sticky or oppressive.
- during winter, the lower the dew point is, the drier the weather feels and can lead to dry skin and cracked lips. If you know air temperature and dew point temperature, you can use a dew point calculator to calculate relative humidity. The air feels dry outside if relative humidity is below 40%. For example, if it’s 20 °C (68 °F) and dew point temperature is 5 °C (41 °F), relative humidity is 37.35% and the air feels dry.
There are only two months during which the dew point is 18 °C (65 °F) or higher and makes the weather feel sticky. Those months are July and August. September, with dew point around 17 °C (63 °F) might also feel uncomfortable to some. During the remaining months, dew point temperature is low and feels comfortable.
Please note that if the temperatures cross 20 °C (68 °F) during the day between December and March, the air will feel dry and you might suffer from dry skin or cracked lips.
Wind Speed
Wind speed shows how many days are windy, and if so, how windy. A little breeze during a hot day can feel pleasant, while strong winds on colder days can make you feel even colder. A place can be sunny and warm, but if it’s often very windy, it might not be a particularly pleasant place to live (unless you’re into wind sports).
There’s always some wind in Alicante, but fortunately it’s very rarely strong wind. In fact, it’s very unlikely that you’ll ever deal with anything stronger than 38-50 km/h (24-31 mph) and even that is very rare. On most days, there will be either a light refreshing breeze or a gentle, but still pleasant during the hot days breeze.
sources:
meteoblue, based on 30 years of data, retrieved April 11-12, 2018.
Weatherbase.com, based on 21 years of data, retrieved April 12, 2018.