Castelo Branco weather in December

In December, Castelo Branco sees average daytime highs of 13°C and overnight lows near 6°C, with 75 mm of rain across 8.3 wet days and about 9.2 hours of daylight. It is the 11th-warmest and 3rd-wettest month of the year here.

Day-to-day highs hold fairly steady near 13°C through the month. The sky is clear or mostly clear about 36% of the time in December, and the air most often feels dry.

Daylight stretches from about 9 h 24 min at the start of December to 9 h 12 min by month's end. Set against the rest of the year, December is Castelo Branco's 12th-clearest and 4th-windiest month. For the whole year in context, see Castelo Branco's year-round climate.

Daytime high: 13°; 11th warmest
Overnight low: 6°; 3rd coldest
Rainfall: 75 mm; 8.3 wet days
Daylight: 9 h 12 min; 7:50 AM – 5:02 PM
Cloud cover: 57%; 12th clearest
Wind: 10 km/h; 4th windiest
Solar energy: 1.83 kWh/m²
Travel score: 3.9; out of 10

Castelo Branco is city seat of Castelo Branco municipality.

Air quality: WHO Ambient Air Quality Database. Density & description: Wikidata (CC0), GeoNames.

← November Castelo Branco year-round climate January →Best places to visit in December

Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec

Temperature in December

Average highAverage lowShaded bands: 10–90% of days

Day-to-day highs hold fairly steady near 13°C through the month.

A typical December day in Castelo Branco reaches about 13°C in the afternoon and slips back to 6°C overnight — a 8°C spread between the day's warmth and the night's chill. On most days the high lands between 10°C and 16°C. Set against its neighbours, December runs about 3°C cooler than November and on par with January.

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25	26	27	28	29	30	31
Avg high (°C)	14	14	14	14	14	14	14	13	13	13	13	13	13	13	13	13	13	13	13	13	13	13	13	13	13	13	13	13	13	13	13
Avg low (°C)	6	6	6	6	6	6	6	6	6	6	6	6	6	6	6	6	6	5	5	5	5	5	5	5	5	5	5	5	5	5	5

	Avg high (°C)	Avg low (°C)
1	14	6
2	14	6
3	14	6
4	14	6
5	14	6
6	14	6
7	14	6
8	13	6
9	13	6
10	13	6
11	13	6
12	13	6
13	13	6
14	13	6
15	13	6
16	13	6
17	13	6
18	13	5
19	13	5
20	13	5
21	13	5
22	13	5
23	13	5
24	13	5
25	13	5
26	13	5
27	13	5
28	13	5
29	13	5
30	13	5
31	13	5

How December really feels in Castelo Branco

Once humidity and wind are folded in, December averages 0 days that feel above 32°C and 0 that feel at or below 0°C — the comfort signal a plain temperature reading hides.

Days feeling ≥ 32°C

heat index over the day's high

Days feeling ≤ 0°C

wind chill below the day's low

December sits comfortably in between — no days that feel dangerously hot or drop to a hard freeze once humidity and wind are folded in.

Castelo Branco weather by month

How December compares with the rest of the year at a glance. December is the 11th-warmest and 3rd-wettest month here — the current month is highlighted below.

Month	High / Low (°C)	Rainfall (mm)	Wet days	Daylight (hours)	Travel score
Jan	13° / 5°	62	8.2	9.5	3.7
Feb	15° / 5°	49	6.4	10.4	4.8
Mar	18° / 8°	58	7.4	11.7	6.2
Apr	20° / 9°	53	8.1	13	6.6
May	24° / 12°	51	7	14.2	7.5
Jun	29° / 15°	10	2.5	14.8	7.0
Jul	32° / 18°	4	1.3	14.5	5.1
Aug	32° / 18°	6	1.4	13.6	5.2
Sep	28° / 16°	34	4.6	12.3	7.1
Oct	22° / 12°	83	8.9	10.9	6.9
Nov	16° / 8°	77	8.3	9.8	5.4
Dec	13° / 6°	75	8.3	9.2	3.9

Cloud cover in December

ClearMostly clearPartly cloudyMostly cloudyOvercast

The sky is clear or mostly clear about 36% of the time in December, the cloudiest month of the year.

Beyond those clear spells, partly cloudy skies cover about 12% of December, with mostly cloudy or overcast conditions the remaining 52%.

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25	26	27	28	29	30	31
Clearer (%)	50	50	50	49	49	49	49	48	48	49	48	48	47	47	48	47	46	47	47	47	46	47	48	48	48	48	48	48	48	48	49
Cloudier (%)	50	50	50	51	51	51	51	52	52	51	52	52	53	53	52	53	54	53	53	53	54	53	52	52	52	52	52	52	52	52	51

	Clearer (%)	Cloudier (%)
1	50	50
2	50	50
3	50	50
4	49	51
5	49	51
6	49	51
7	49	51
8	48	52
9	48	52
10	49	51
11	48	52
12	48	52
13	47	53
14	47	53
15	48	52
16	47	53
17	46	54
18	47	53
19	47	53
20	47	53
21	46	54
22	47	53
23	48	52
24	48	52
25	48	52
26	48	52
27	48	52
28	48	52
29	48	52
30	48	52
31	49	51

Chance of precipitation in December

Any precipitation

Castelo Branco gets around 75 mm of rain over 8.3 wet days in December. The line is the day-by-day chance of measurable precipitation.

Day to day, the chance of measurable rain averages around 27% and peaks near 30% on the wettest days.

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25	26	27	28	29	30	31
Rain chance (%)	27	26	26	25	25	25	25	25	25	25	25	25	25	25	26	26	26	27	27	27	28	28	29	29	29	30	30	30	30	30	30

	Rain chance (%)
1	27
2	26
3	26
4	25
5	25
6	25
7	25
8	25
9	25
10	25
11	25
12	25
13	25
14	25
15	26
16	26
17	26
18	27
19	27
20	27
21	28
22	28
23	29
24	29
25	29
26	30
27	30
28	30
29	30
30	30
31	30

Humidity in December

DryComfortableHumidMuggyOppressiveMiserable

Most of December feels dry — the stacked bands show each day's mix of comfort levels, read off the dew point.

By dew point, December lands in the dry band about 97% of days. It rarely turns muggy — the humid and sticky bands barely register.

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25	26	27	28	29	30	31
Dry (%)	97	97	98	98	98	98	98	98	98	98	98	98	98	97	97	97	97	97	97	97	97	97	96	96	96	96	97	97	97	97	97
Comfortable (%)	3	3	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	3	3	3	3	3	3	3	3	3	4	4	4	4	3	3	3	3	3

	Dry (%)	Comfortable (%)
1	97	3
2	97	3
3	98	2
4	98	2
5	98	2
6	98	2
7	98	2
8	98	2
9	98	2
10	98	2
11	98	2
12	98	2
13	98	2
14	97	3
15	97	3
16	97	3
17	97	3
18	97	3
19	97	3
20	97	3
21	97	3
22	97	3
23	96	4
24	96	4
25	96	4
26	96	4
27	97	3
28	97	3
29	97	3
30	97	3
31	97	3

Wind in December

Winds average 10 km/h in December.

Across December, daily wind ranges from about 10 km/h on the calmest days to 10 km/h at its breeziest. It stays fairly steady from day to day.

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25	26	27	28	29	30	31
Wind speed (km/h)	10	10	10	10	10	10	10	10	10	10	10	10	10	10	10	10	10	10	10	10	10	10	10	10	10	10	10	10	10	10	10
Feels	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm

	Wind speed (km/h)	Feels
1	10	calm
2	10	calm
3	10	calm
4	10	calm
5	10	calm
6	10	calm
7	10	calm
8	10	calm
9	10	calm
10	10	calm
11	10	calm
12	10	calm
13	10	calm
14	10	calm
15	10	calm
16	10	calm
17	10	calm
18	10	calm
19	10	calm
20	10	calm
21	10	calm
22	10	calm
23	10	calm
24	10	calm
25	10	calm
26	10	calm
27	10	calm
28	10	calm
29	10	calm
30	10	calm
31	10	calm

Sunrise & sunset in December

DaylightNight

Daylight runs from about 9 h 24 min at the start of December to 9 h 12 min by month's end. The lit band spans sunrise to sunset each day.

Days shrink by about 12 minutes over December. Sunrise moves from 7:38 AM to 7:57 AM, and sunset from 5:01 PM to 5:10 PM.

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25	26	27	28	29	30	31
Daylight (h)	9.4	9.4	9.3	9.3	9.3	9.3	9.3	9.3	9.3	9.2	9.2	9.2	9.2	9.2	9.2	9.2	9.2	9.2	9.2	9.2	9.2	9.2	9.2	9.2	9.2	9.2	9.2	9.2	9.2	9.2	9.2
Sunrise (AM)	7:38	7:39	7:40	7:41	7:42	7:43	7:44	7:44	7:45	7:46	7:47	7:48	7:48	7:49	7:50	7:50	7:51	7:52	7:52	7:53	7:53	7:54	7:54	7:55	7:55	7:55	7:56	7:56	7:56	7:57	7:57
Sunset (PM)	5:01	5:01	5:01	5:01	5:01	5:01	5:01	5:01	5:01	5:01	5:01	5:01	5:01	5:01	5:02	5:02	5:02	5:03	5:03	5:03	5:04	5:04	5:05	5:05	5:06	5:06	5:07	5:07	5:08	5:09	5:10

	Daylight (h)	Sunrise (AM)	Sunset (PM)
1	9.4	7:38	5:01
2	9.4	7:39	5:01
3	9.3	7:40	5:01
4	9.3	7:41	5:01
5	9.3	7:42	5:01
6	9.3	7:43	5:01
7	9.3	7:44	5:01
8	9.3	7:44	5:01
9	9.3	7:45	5:01
10	9.2	7:46	5:01
11	9.2	7:47	5:01
12	9.2	7:48	5:01
13	9.2	7:48	5:01
14	9.2	7:49	5:01
15	9.2	7:50	5:02
16	9.2	7:50	5:02
17	9.2	7:51	5:02
18	9.2	7:52	5:03
19	9.2	7:52	5:03
20	9.2	7:53	5:03
21	9.2	7:53	5:04
22	9.2	7:54	5:04
23	9.2	7:54	5:05
24	9.2	7:55	5:05
25	9.2	7:55	5:06
26	9.2	7:55	5:06
27	9.2	7:56	5:07
28	9.2	7:56	5:07
29	9.2	7:56	5:08
30	9.2	7:57	5:09
31	9.2	7:57	5:10

Solar energy in December

Daily solar energy (kWh/m²)

Average shortwave solar energy reaching the ground each day in December, about 1.83 kWh/m² — the year's lowest.

For context, solar energy here swings from a low near 1.83 kWh/m² to a high of 7.74 kWh/m² in July across the year — December's 1.83 kWh/m² sits near the bottom.

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25	26	27	28	29	30	31
Solar energy (kWh/m²)	2.0	2.0	2.0	1.9	1.9	1.9	1.9	1.9	1.9	1.9	1.9	1.9	1.8	1.8	1.8	1.8	1.8	1.8	1.8	1.8	1.8	1.8	1.8	1.8	1.8	1.8	1.8	1.8	1.8	1.8	1.8
Level	Moderate	Dim	Dim	Dim	Dim	Dim	Dim	Dim	Dim	Dim	Dim	Dim	Dim	Dim	Dim	Dim	Dim	Dim	Dim	Dim	Dim	Dim	Dim	Dim	Dim	Dim	Dim	Dim	Dim	Dim	Dim

	Solar energy (kWh/m²)	Level
1	2.0	Moderate
2	2.0	Dim
3	2.0	Dim
4	1.9	Dim
5	1.9	Dim
6	1.9	Dim
7	1.9	Dim
8	1.9	Dim
9	1.9	Dim
10	1.9	Dim
11	1.9	Dim
12	1.9	Dim
13	1.8	Dim
14	1.8	Dim
15	1.8	Dim
16	1.8	Dim
17	1.8	Dim
18	1.8	Dim
19	1.8	Dim
20	1.8	Dim
21	1.8	Dim
22	1.8	Dim
23	1.8	Dim
24	1.8	Dim
25	1.8	Dim
26	1.8	Dim
27	1.8	Dim
28	1.8	Dim
29	1.8	Dim
30	1.8	Dim
31	1.8	Dim

Planning a trip in December

Is December a good time to visit Castelo Branco?

Our two travel scores rate December for general sightseeing and for beach or pool weather — 0 (poor) to 10 (ideal).

3.9

Sightseeing

11th-best month of the year

0.0

Beach & pool

11th-best month of the year

December is a weaker month for outdoor sightseeing in Castelo Branco.

What to pack for Castelo Branco in December

From December's temperature range, rain chance, sun and wind — what's worth putting in the bag.

In December, Castelo Branco sees daytime highs around 13°C and nights near 6°C. Worth packing: a warm layer and rain gear. About 8 days see rain.

a warm layerrain gear

UV index in Castelo Branco in December

LowModerateHighVery highExtreme

Clear-sky midday UV in December peaks around 2. The full-year curve, shaded by WHO exposure level, is below.

Under clear skies, the midday UV index in Castelo Branco peaks around July 17 at about 9 (very high) — sunscreen, a hat and midday shade are essential. It bottoms out near December 18 at about 2 (low).

The index reaches 3 or more — the level where the WHO recommends sun protection — in 8 months of the year.

	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
UV index (midday)	2	3	6	7	7	9	9	9	6	5	2	2
Level	Low	Moderate	High	High	High	Very high	Very high	Very high	High	Moderate	Moderate	Low

	UV index (midday)	Level
Jan	2	Low
Feb	3	Moderate
Mar	6	High
Apr	7	High
May	7	High
Jun	9	Very high
Jul	9	Very high
Aug	9	Very high
Sep	6	High
Oct	5	Moderate
Nov	2	Moderate
Dec	2	Low

Air quality in Castelo Branco in December

GoodModeratePoorUnhealthyVery unhealthy

Average fine-particle pollution (PM2.5) through the year — so you can see where December falls, not just the annual average.

Air quality in Castelo Branco is worst in August — around 21 µg/m³ PM2.5 (moderate), about 3.3× the cleanest month (November, 6 µg/m³).

Modeled monthly averages (CAMS reanalysis, 2015–2024).

	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
PM2.5 (µg/m³)	8	10	12	10	8	9	12	21	10	14	6	7
Level	Good	Good	Moderate	Good	Good	Good	Good	Moderate	Good	Moderate	Good	Good

	PM2.5 (µg/m³)	Level
Jan	8	Good
Feb	10	Good
Mar	12	Moderate
Apr	10	Good
May	8	Good
Jun	9	Good
Jul	12	Good
Aug	21	Moderate
Sep	10	Good
Oct	14	Moderate
Nov	6	Good
Dec	7	Good

Location & terrain

Where is Castelo Branco?

Castelo Branco sits at 39.8°N, 7.5°W, 371 m above sea level, in Portugal. The nearest listed city is Covilhã, 51 km away.

Topography around Castelo Branco

How much the land rises and falls, and what covers it, within 3, 16 and 80 km of Castelo Branco.

Within 3 km, the terrain around Castelo Branco has only modest variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 184 m around an average of 362 m above sea level; within 16 km, significant variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 363 m; within 80 km, very significant variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 1,974 m.

The land around Castelo Branco is covered by grassland (48%), trees (27%) and artificial surfaces (21%) within 3 km, grassland (49%) and trees (39%) within 16 km, and grassland (50%) and trees (43%) within 80 km.

3 km

184 m

grassland 48%

16 km

363 m

grassland 49%

80 km

1,974 m

grassland 50%

treesshrubsgrasslandcroplandartificial surfaceswater

← November Castelo Branco year-round climate January →Best places to visit in December

December weather nearby: Covilhã 51 km · Portalegre 59 km · Guarda 82 km · Tomar 82 km · Sequeira 84 km · Santo António dos Olivais 89 km · Coimbra 90 km · São Paulo de Frades 90 km

Portugal travel facts

Travel advisory: Level 1; Exercise Normal Precautions
Power plugs: Type C / E / F; 230 V · 50 Hz
Prices: ≈ 60% of US; price level, 2025
GDP per capita: $32,082; 2025
Happiness: 6.0 / 10; World Happiness, 2025
Safe drinking water: 95%; of population, 2024
Homicide rate: 0.7; per 100k, 2022
Road deaths: 8.2; per 100k/yr, 2019
Income group: High; World Bank
English: Very high; EF EPI 612
Religion

Sources: World Bank, US State Department, World Happiness Report, WHO/UNICEF, EF EPI, CIA World Factbook.

Data sources

Temperature, precipitation, cloud, humidity, wind and solar figures are a 1991–2020 climatology for Castelo Branco (39.8236°, -7.491°, elevation 371 m), computed from hourly ERA5 reanalysis — contains modified Copernicus Climate Change Service information. Sun figures are astronomical calculations, not observations. City data © GeoNames, CC BY 4.0. Map outlines from Natural Earth (public domain); interactive map © Google. UV index is derived from CAMS (Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service) clear-sky UV data — contains modified Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service information. Monthly air-quality (PM2.5) seasonality is from the CAMS EAC4 reanalysis (Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service), scaled to the WHO annual mean where available. Topography is sampled from the Copernicus DEM GLO-90 elevation model (© ESA/Airbus) and ESA WorldCover 2021 land cover (CC BY 4.0).

	Avg high (°C)	Avg low (°C)
1	14	6
2	14	6
3	14	6
4	14	6
5	14	6
6	14	6
7	14	6
8	13	6
9	13	6
10	13	6
11	13	6
12	13	6
13	13	6
14	13	6
15	13	6
16	13	6
17	13	6
18	13	5
19	13	5
20	13	5
21	13	5
22	13	5
23	13	5
24	13	5
25	13	5
26	13	5
27	13	5
28	13	5
29	13	5
30	13	5
31	13	5

	Clearer (%)	Cloudier (%)
1	50	50
2	50	50
3	50	50
4	49	51
5	49	51
6	49	51
7	49	51
8	48	52
9	48	52
10	49	51
11	48	52
12	48	52
13	47	53
14	47	53
15	48	52
16	47	53
17	46	54
18	47	53
19	47	53
20	47	53
21	46	54
22	47	53
23	48	52
24	48	52
25	48	52
26	48	52
27	48	52
28	48	52
29	48	52
30	48	52
31	49	51

	Rain chance (%)
1	27
2	26
3	26
4	25
5	25
6	25
7	25
8	25
9	25
10	25
11	25
12	25
13	25
14	25
15	26
16	26
17	26
18	27
19	27
20	27
21	28
22	28
23	29
24	29
25	29
26	30
27	30
28	30
29	30
30	30
31	30

	Dry (%)	Comfortable (%)
1	97	3
2	97	3
3	98	2
4	98	2
5	98	2
6	98	2
7	98	2
8	98	2
9	98	2
10	98	2
11	98	2
12	98	2
13	98	2
14	97	3
15	97	3
16	97	3
17	97	3
18	97	3
19	97	3
20	97	3
21	97	3
22	97	3
23	96	4
24	96	4
25	96	4
26	96	4
27	97	3
28	97	3
29	97	3
30	97	3
31	97	3

	Avg high (°C)	Avg low (°C)
1	14	6
2	14	6
3	14	6
4	14	6
5	14	6
6	14	6
7	14	6
8	13	6
9	13	6
10	13	6
11	13	6
12	13	6
13	13	6
14	13	6
15	13	6
16	13	6
17	13	6
18	13	5
19	13	5
20	13	5
21	13	5
22	13	5
23	13	5
24	13	5
25	13	5
26	13	5
27	13	5
28	13	5
29	13	5
30	13	5
31	13	5

	Clearer (%)	Cloudier (%)
1	50	50
2	50	50
3	50	50
4	49	51
5	49	51
6	49	51
7	49	51
8	48	52
9	48	52
10	49	51
11	48	52
12	48	52
13	47	53
14	47	53
15	48	52
16	47	53
17	46	54
18	47	53
19	47	53
20	47	53
21	46	54
22	47	53
23	48	52
24	48	52
25	48	52
26	48	52
27	48	52
28	48	52
29	48	52
30	48	52
31	49	51

	Rain chance (%)
1	27
2	26
3	26
4	25
5	25
6	25
7	25
8	25
9	25
10	25
11	25
12	25
13	25
14	25
15	26
16	26
17	26
18	27
19	27
20	27
21	28
22	28
23	29
24	29
25	29
26	30
27	30
28	30
29	30
30	30
31	30

	Dry (%)	Comfortable (%)
1	97	3
2	97	3
3	98	2
4	98	2
5	98	2
6	98	2
7	98	2
8	98	2
9	98	2
10	98	2
11	98	2
12	98	2
13	98	2
14	97	3
15	97	3
16	97	3
17	97	3
18	97	3
19	97	3
20	97	3
21	97	3
22	97	3
23	96	4
24	96	4
25	96	4
26	96	4
27	97	3
28	97	3
29	97	3
30	97	3
31	97	3

	Avg high (°C)	Avg low (°C)
1	14	6
2	14	6
3	14	6
4	14	6
5	14	6
6	14	6
7	14	6
8	13	6
9	13	6
10	13	6
11	13	6
12	13	6
13	13	6
14	13	6
15	13	6
16	13	6
17	13	6
18	13	5
19	13	5
20	13	5
21	13	5
22	13	5
23	13	5
24	13	5
25	13	5
26	13	5
27	13	5
28	13	5
29	13	5
30	13	5
31	13	5

	Clearer (%)	Cloudier (%)
1	50	50
2	50	50
3	50	50
4	49	51
5	49	51
6	49	51
7	49	51
8	48	52
9	48	52
10	49	51
11	48	52
12	48	52
13	47	53
14	47	53
15	48	52
16	47	53
17	46	54
18	47	53
19	47	53
20	47	53
21	46	54
22	47	53
23	48	52
24	48	52
25	48	52
26	48	52
27	48	52
28	48	52
29	48	52
30	48	52
31	49	51

	Rain chance (%)
1	27
2	26
3	26
4	25
5	25
6	25
7	25
8	25
9	25
10	25
11	25
12	25
13	25
14	25
15	26
16	26
17	26
18	27
19	27
20	27
21	28
22	28
23	29
24	29
25	29
26	30
27	30
28	30
29	30
30	30
31	30

	Dry (%)	Comfortable (%)
1	97	3
2	97	3
3	98	2
4	98	2
5	98	2
6	98	2
7	98	2
8	98	2
9	98	2
10	98	2
11	98	2
12	98	2
13	98	2
14	97	3
15	97	3
16	97	3
17	97	3
18	97	3
19	97	3
20	97	3
21	97	3
22	97	3
23	96	4
24	96	4
25	96	4
26	96	4
27	97	3
28	97	3
29	97	3
30	97	3
31	97	3