The north of Spain is not one climate
Green and rainy, yes. But Vigo gets far more summer sun than Bilbao, and inland Ourense has hot summers. A province-by-province look.
“The north of Spain” is often treated as one rainy, green place. On the numbers it is not one climate. We compared the 42 places of 25,000 or more in Galicia, Asturias, Cantabria and the Basque Country, province by province.
Sunshine: the south-west of Galicia is the bright corner
Over a year the Rías Baixas (Pontevedra) gets about 2,300 hours of sunshine, against about 1,642 in Bizkaia (Bilbao). Almost all of that difference is summer. In July the median town in the Rías Baixas (Pontevedra) gets 9.5 hours of sun a day; in Asturias 5.7 hours: a gap of 3.8 hours a day. The Rías Baixas sit under the Azores high in summer and get long clear spells, while the Cantabrian coast is often under low cloud and drizzle held against the mountains.
Sunshine in July, hours per day (h)
In winter the whole north is grey and the differences shrink: in December the brightest province gets 3.5 hours a day and the dullest 2.3, a gap of only 1.2 hours.
Sunshine in December, hours per day (h)
Heat: the coast stays cool, the interior does not
Summer heat varies more than you might expect: the median August high runs from 23.6°C in A Coruña province to 31.1°C in Ourense, the warmest place in the north (Seville, for comparison: 36.3°C). Ourense also has the fewest rainy days in the north (97 a year) and a lower August dew point (14.0°C) than the coast.
The whole picture
| Province | Places | Sun, year | Sun, July | Sun, Dec | Rainy days | Aug high | Jan low | Aug dew point | Aug high ~2055 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rías Baixas (Pontevedra) | 5 | 6.3 h | 9.5 h | 3.3 h | 126 | 26.8°C | 7.0°C | 15.0°C | 27.8°C |
| A Coruña province | 10 | 5.9 h | 8.3 h | 3.2 h | 127 | 23.6°C | 7.7°C | 15.6°C | 24.7°C |
| Lugo | 1 | 5.2 h | 7.6 h | 2.3 h | 117 | 26.1°C | 2.6°C | 13.9°C | 27.3°C |
| Ourense | 1 | 5.8 h | 9.4 h | 2.3 h | 97 | 31.1°C | 3.5°C | 14.0°C | 32.4°C |
| Asturias | 6 | 4.9 h | 5.7 h | 3.5 h | 125 | 24.4°C | 5.6°C | 15.6°C | 24.2°C |
| Cantabria | 5 | 4.7 h | 6.3 h | 2.5 h | 125 | 24.0°C | 6.5°C | 16.7°C | 24.8°C |
| Bizkaia (Bilbao) | 9 | 4.5 h | 6.0 h | 2.6 h | 124 | 26.4°C | 5.4°C | 16.0°C | 27.1°C |
| Gipuzkoa (San Sebastián) | 4 | 4.9 h | 6.6 h | 2.6 h | 140 | 25.0°C | 5.0°C | 17.0°C | 26.6°C |
| Álava (Vitoria) | 1 | 5.4 h | 8.0 h | 2.6 h | 100 | 26.6°C | 1.3°C | 14.3°C | 27.8°C |
What it means if you are choosing the north
If you want mild summers with the most sun, the Rías Baixas around Vigo and Pontevedra stand out. The coolest summers are in A Coruña province (23.6°C), Cantabria (24.0°C), Asturias (24.4°C), with less sun. In August Bizkaia (26.4°C) is about as warm as the Rías Baixas (26.8°C) and Gipuzkoa (25.0°C) cooler, but much cloudier: about 4.5 hours of sun a day against 6.3. Ourense, inland, trades some of the rain for hot summers. And everywhere in the north December is dark: the brightest province gets 3.5 hours a day, against a median 5.2 on the Mediterranean (see Winter sun).
Sunshine is measured at relatively few stations. For Carballo, Gijón, Castro-Urdiales, Durango, Eibar the sunshine comes from a station more than 20 km away, so treat it as approximate. Lugo, Ourense, Álava (Vitoria) are represented by a single town each. Vigo's station is at the airport on the hill above the city.
How we did this
AEMET 1991-2020 station averages (sunshine hours, rainy days of 1 mm or more, temperatures, humidity); medians of the towns of 25,000+ in each province. 2055: Escenarios-PNACC 2024, SSP2-4.5. Built 2026-10-18.