Weather in Tenerife

Find cheap car hire in Tenerife

Tenerife is a Spanish island, that together with six other islands make up the Canary Islands. Tenerife is the largest of the seven and the most populated too. Every year there are approximately 5 million people, who comes to visit Tenerife, which makes it one of the most important tourist destinations of Spain.

Scenic Drives in Tenerife.

The island is known as ‘the island of eternal spring’ (isla de la Eterna Primavera), due to the temperatures throughout the year. In the winter the temperature is between 18 and 24°C, whereas it in the summer period is between 24 and 26°C.

That does however not mean, that the climate is the same regardless if it’s in the northern part or the southern part of Tenerife. The northern part of Tenerife is much more lush and green, where the south is drier. The Northwest side of the Island receives 73% of all precipitation on the Island.

Therefore it is actually possible to split the island into two, when talking about the weather conditions.

The southern coast of Tenerife

The Tenerife Summer
Tenerife is situated on the same latitude as Sahara – therefore the wind from the desert blow in the direction of the Island, often affecting the southern part the most. The summer on the island is from June to September. In the months of August and September, the temperature peaks at around 27°C, where it in June until August peaks at 24°C. The trade winds around Tenerife make sure, that the heat rarely gets uncomfortable to be in.

The night temperature is a bit cooler, but still in the high teens or low 20’s. That would be chilly for people, who comes from the same weather conditions, but for someone from the northern part of Europe, it would still be a bit warm.

The water temperature is in the low 20’s all season, due to the many sun hours. In the summer, the sun is out 8-10 hours a day, and besides from the many sun hours, it almost never rains in the summer time either.

The island is sometimes hit by the Sirocco wind, pulling the heat up to the mid 30’s.

The summer and winter period is the high seasons of Tenerife.

Autumn in Tenerife
This season starts in October and lasts until November. Autumn is, with its 24-26°C, still warm, but the number of rainy days will increase and the hours of sun decrease to 6-7 hours.

The showers are not as long as in the UK though, which still makes it possible to be out in this season. Furthermore, there aren’t as many tourists in these two months as in summer and winter.

A warm Tenerife winter.

The winter in Tenerife is the months of December until February. Yet again the rainy days increase, but the temperature does not, not even in January, fall below 21°C in the day time. The nights are a bit more cool, as the temperature goes down to 14°C.

The sun hours are down to 6 hours a day. Even though it gets a bit more chilly and wet, this season is popular among tourists still. Mostly among tourists from the north, who are used to degrees below freezing point and snow.  Even in the winter months, the sea is warm enough to take a swim in.

Best beaches Tenerife.

Spring in Tenerife
Tenerife’s blossoming months of spring (March until May) have fewer rainy days and the temperature gets higher – at around 22°C. Some days, however, there can be cool winds, forcing the temperature down to the late teens. The night temperature increases, and sneaks up to approximately 16°C.

	JAN	FEB	MAR	APR	MAY	JUN	JUL	AUG	SEP	OCT	NOV	DEC
mm	43	42	38	19	8	4	2	3	9	26	47	52
Days	5	5	4	3	2	1	1	1	1	4	5	6

 

	JAN	FEB	MAR	APR	MAY	JUN	JUL	AUG	SEP	OCT	NOV	DEC
High °C	20	20	21	22	23	25	27	28	27	25	23	21
High °F	67	68	70	71	73	77	81	82	81	77	73	70
Low °C	14	14	14	15	16	18	19	20	20	19	17	15
Low °F	57	56	57	58	61	64	66	68	68	64	63	59

The north coast
Due to the fact, that the south coast is very influenced by the Sahara Desert, and the north isn’t as much, the north is much greener and the nature is more verdant. Besides from that, a lot of tourists choose to go to the south because of the heat, which makes the north more quiet.

The north coast of Tenerife is very popular with hikers and golfers among others. The area is in general a bit wetter and with a bit more wind.

Northern Tenerife summer
The summer in the northern area is much like how the summer in the southern part is, if you subtract a few degrees. Rain in the summer months is almost non-existing, but it is quite windy.

These weather conditions makes the northern coast perfect for surfing and other water sports, and does in general make it more preferable to people, who would like to have a more active vacation.

Tenerife in autumn
as well for the south, the rainy days get more frequent and the temperatures decrease. The autumn in the north is normally the same temperature as the winter in the south. The water is however still warm enough to swim in, even though the air temperature says 18°C at day.

In October, there is approximately 5 days with rain. The showers can be quite heavy, but are usually also very short.

Winter of Tenerife
the Winter in Tenerife is very  mild, but also cooler than the summer is. The temperature drops down to 15°C in January in the daytime, and all the way down to 9°C in the nights.

The sea, however, does not fall below 19°C at any time during the year in the north. This creates the best opportunity to go to the beach.

The daily amount of sun will be at a stabile 6 hours a day, making it perfectly suitable for a winter-get-away.

Tenerife in spring
March, April and May have, as all the other months in the north, not as high temperatures as in the south, but they do reach 18-19°C, and it will rain less and less for every day it gets closer to being summer. As mentioned before, the nature and landscape is much more green and lush, and there are great conditions for those, who would like to take a hike, play some golf or go surfing.

The weather in the Tenerife mountains
in general, the temperature of the mountains is much lower, than what is it at the coasts. This is of course affected by the altitude.

Even though the temperatures are significantly lower in the winter, the mountains are not suitable for skiing. The top will be covered in snow, but it will not be thick enough to go skiing here.