Climate and average weather in El Escorial

In El Escorial, the summers are hot, dry, and clear and the winters are cool, snowy, and partly cloudy.

Best: mid May to mid July

Over the course of the year, the temperature in El Escorial typically varies from 1°C to 30°C, and is rarely below -3°C or above 35°C. July is the hottest month of the year, while January is the coldest.

Based on the travel score, the best times of year to visit El Escorial for warm-weather activities are from mid May to mid July and mid August to mid October.

Hottest
Jul
30°
Coldest
Jan
Wettest
Oct
59 mm
Driest
Jul
10 mm
Rain / yr
448 mm
78 wet days
Daylight
9.1–14.9 h
shortest–longest
Elevation
917 m
40.6°N
Clearest
Jul
23% cloud

El Escorial is human settlement in El Escorial, Community of Madrid, Spain.

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

El Escorial weather by month, at a glance

The whole year in one picture — sky, rain, humidity, temperature and travel score. Click any band to jump to its full chart.

Each stripe is one measure across the whole year, stacked so a single day reads top to bottom. The sky band runs overcast grey on top down to clear blue at the base — more blue means sunnier — followed by the rainfall curve, the humidity band, a temperature strip that tints each stretch of the year by how warm its average high is, and the travel-score line at the foot. Scan straight down any date to read that day across every measure at once; the score climbs highest around mid May to mid July.

Temperature through the year

Average highAverage lowShaded bands: 10–90% of days

Daily average highs and lows in El Escorial, from 1991–2020 of climate data. The shaded bands show the range most days fall in — 10th to 90th percentile.

The hot season lasts 3.1 months, from June 12 to September 12, with daily high temperatures above 25°C. The hottest month of the year in El Escorial is July, with an average high of 30°C and low of 17°C.

The cool season lasts 3.7 months, from November 12 to March 5, with daily high temperatures below 13°C. The coldest month of the year in El Escorial is January, with an average low of 1°C and high of 8°C.

Days typically run about 10°C warmer than nights, with the widest day–night swing (around 13°C) in July.

10°20°30°JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Avg high (°C)Avg low (°C)
Jan81
Feb101
Mar144
Apr166
May2010
Jun2614
Jul3017
Aug3017
Sep2513
Oct189
Nov124
Dec92

How hot and cold El Escorial really feels

Feels-like highFeels-like lowactual air temp

The felt-temperature range through the year — heat index on the day's high (summer humidity), wind chill on the night's low (winter wind). The dashed lines are the plain thermometer; the gap is how much hotter or colder it really feels.

On the coldest nights, wind chill pulls the feels-like down to about -2°C (around January 20), with roughly 96 freezing days a year (feels-like at or below 0°C), worst in January.

10°20°30°JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Feels-like high (°C)Air high (°C)Feels-like low (°C)Air low (°C)
Jan88-21
Feb1010-21
Mar141414
Apr161646
May2020910
Jun26261414
Jul30301717
Aug30301717
Sep25251313
Oct181889
Nov121224
Dec99-12

Average hourly temperature in El Escorial

A compact picture of the whole year, hour by hour: each column is a day, each row an hour, and the color is the modeled average temperature. Darker overlays mark night, lighter ones the civil-twilight hours around sunrise and sunset.

Read left to right for the day of the year and top to bottom for the hour of the day; the color is the modeled temperature, cool blues through to hot reds on the same scale as the other charts. A vertical slice is a single day's swing — coolest just before dawn, warmest in the mid-afternoon — while a horizontal slice follows one hour across the seasons. The darker overlay marks night and the lighter one the twilight around sunrise and sunset. Colors run warmest on July afternoons, near 30°C, and coldest before dawn in January, near C.

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec12 AM2 AM4 AM6 AM8 AM10 AM12 PM2 PM4 PM6 PM8 PM10 PM12 AM

El Escorial weather by month

Every month at a glance. Click a month for its detailed page.

MonthHigh / Low (°C)Rainfall (mm)Wet daysSnow daysDaylight (hours)Travel score
Jan / 437.72.89.41.6
Feb10° / 356.32.310.42.6
Mar14° / 457.81.511.74.3
Apr16° / 509.30.6135.2
May20° / 10°498.8014.26.7
Jun26° / 14°225014.87.5
Jul30° / 17°102.2014.66.1
Aug30° / 17°122.9013.66.4
Sep25° / 13°244.8012.37.9
Oct18° / 597.7010.96.1
Nov12° / 5580.79.73.3
Dec / 477.11.39.21.9

Chance of rain

How likely it is to rain on a typical day, and how that shifts across the wetter and drier seasons.

El Escorial gets about 448 mm of precipitation a year. On a typical day the chance of rain is some rain, but that rises and falls sharply with the seasons.

The wetter season lasts 8.0 months, from around Oct 9 to Jun 7, peaking in April at about 32% chance on a given day. The drier stretch runs the rest of the year, bottoming out around Jul 20.

October is the wettest month by volume, with 59 mm over about 8 wet days; July is the driest, with 10 mm. Some of the cold-season precipitation falls as snow.

0%10%20%30%40%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecwetterdrierwettermostly drysome rainoften wetApr 28 · 32%Jul 20 · 6%
Rain on a day (%)Rain days
Jan258
Feb236
Mar258
Apr319
May289
Jun175
Jul82
Aug93
Sep155
Oct268
Nov268
Dec237

Monthly rainfall

Over a full year, El Escorial collects about 448 mm of rain across 78 wet days — roughly 37 mm in an average month.

It doesn’t fall evenly. October is the wettest month with 59 mm, while July is the driest at just 10 mm. The three wettest months alone bring about 36% of the year’s total, and some of the cold-season precipitation falls as snow.

0255075JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec433545504922101224595547
Rainfall (mm)Rain daysSnow days
Jan4383
Feb3562
Mar4582
Apr5091
May4990
Jun2250
Jul1020
Aug1230
Sep2450
Oct5980
Nov5581
Dec4771

Snow in El Escorial

Average snowy days through the year, the snow-season span, and estimated snowfall — for ski trips and the perennial 'will there be snow at Christmas?' question.

El Escorial averages about 9 snowy days a year. Snow season runs roughly Nov 9 to Apr 26 — about 5.6 months.

January is snowiest, with roughly 3 days of snow and an estimated 10 cm of snowfall. Over the year that adds up to an estimated 32 cm of snow.

0246JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecsnow seasonsnow seasonJan 20
Snow daysSnowfall (cm)
Jan310
Feb29
Mar24
Apr12
May00
Jun00
Jul00
Aug00
Sep00
Oct00
Nov13
Dec14

Clouds and sunshine

ClearMostly clearPartly cloudyMostly cloudyOvercast

How often the daytime sky is clear, partly cloudy or overcast.

In El Escorial, the average share of the sky covered by clouds shows significant seasonal variation over the course of the year.

The clearer part of the year begins around May 30 and lasts for 4.2 months, ending around October 5. The clearest month is July, when the sky is clear, mostly clear, or partly cloudy 90% of the time on average.

The cloudier part of the year begins around October 6 and lasts for 7.8 months, ending around May 29. The cloudiest month is December, when it is overcast or mostly cloudy 55% of the time.

0%100%10%90%20%80%30%70%40%60%50%50%60%40%70%30%80%20%90%10%100%0%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecJul 24 · 93%Dec 7 · 44%clearmostly clearpartly cloudymostly cloudyovercastcloudierclearercloudier
Clearer (%)Cloudier (%)
Jan4951
Feb5248
Mar5149
Apr4753
May5248
Jun7228
Jul9010
Aug8812
Sep7228
Oct5149
Nov4852
Dec4555

Daylight, sunrise and sunset

DaylightNight

Hours of daylight through the year, with sunrise and sunset times.

The gold band is daylight — sunrise runs along its lower edge, sunset along the upper — so it widens toward summer and pinches toward winter, with night the dark area above and below. The longest day, around June 12, brings about 14 h 54 min of light; the shortest, around January 1, only 9 h 06 min — a swing of roughly 5 h 48 min.

12 AM4 AM8 AM12 PM4 PM8 PM12 AMJanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Daylight (h)Sunrise (AM)Sunset (PM)
Jan9.48:446:08
Feb10.48:196:43
Mar11.77:367:16
Apr13.06:447:49
May14.26:058:20
Jun14.85:508:43
Jul14.66:038:41
Aug13.66:328:09
Sep12.37:037:19
Oct10.97:356:29
Nov9.78:115:53
Dec9.28:395:46

Sunny days

How many genuinely sunny days each month brings — days the sky stays clear or mostly clear — banded into plain-language zones.

El Escorial averages about 13 sunny days a month — counting the days the sky stays clear or mostly clear — with a clear seasonal swing between 8 and 25 days.

The sunnier stretch runs 4.0 months, from around Jun 4 to Oct 2. The sunniest month is July, with roughly 24 sunny days (brilliant).

The greyest month is May, down near 10 sunny days — about 57% fewer than the July peak.

051015202530JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecgreyersunniergreyergloomymixedbrightbrilliantJul 2325 daysMay 38 days
Sunny daysSky
Jan11Mixed
Feb10Mixed
Mar11Mixed
Apr9Mixed
May10Mixed
Jun17Bright
Jul24Brilliant
Aug23Bright
Sep16Bright
Oct11Mixed
Nov10Mixed
Dec10Mixed

Humidity comfort

DryComfortableHumidMuggyOppressiveMiserable

Share of days at each humidity comfort level, based on the dew point — the measure that tracks how muggy it actually feels.

Humidity comfort is graded by the dew point — the temperature at which the air would be fully saturated — because it tracks how muggy it actually feels far better than relative humidity does. A low dew point feels dry and crisp; a high one feels sticky and oppressive no matter the reading on a humidity gauge.

In El Escorial, the air stays dry or comfortable essentially all year. Even in May, the muggiest month, it feels humid or worse only about 0% of the time — humidity is not something you need to plan around here.

0%10%20%30%40%50%60%70%80%90%100%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecdry
Dry (%)Comfortable (%)
Jan1000
Feb1000
Mar1000
Apr1000
May1000
Jun973
Jul982
Aug955
Sep946
Oct973
Nov1000
Dec1000

Wind

Average wind speed through the year, banded into plain-language speed zones so a number reads as 'breezy' or 'calm' without knowing the scale.

This is the average sustained wind speed at the standard 10 metres above open ground — the steady flow a weather station reports, not the sharper gusts that come and go, which can run half again as fast. It's the number that says whether a place is generally breezy or calm.

Wind in El Escorial is steady company: average speeds sit near 9 km/hcalm — in every month of the year, with no meaningful windy or calm season.

051015JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDeccalmlight breezeApr 4 · 11 km/hSep 3 · 8 km/h
Wind speed (km/h)Feels
Jan9calm
Feb10calm
Mar10calm
Apr10calm
May10calm
Jun9calm
Jul9calm
Aug9calm
Sep8calm
Oct9calm
Nov9calm
Dec9calm

Best time to visit El Escorial

TravelBeach/poolTemperatureCloudsPrecipitation

To characterize how pleasant the weather is in El Escorial throughout the year, we compute two travel scores — one for general sightseeing, one for beach and pool weather.

Around early July, El Escorial is still near the tail of its best-weather window — great conditions with the peak-season crowds already thinning.

Inferred from the travel-score curve; month-by-month visitor numbers are a planned addition.

The travel score favors clear, rainless days with daytime highs between 18°C and 28°C. Based on this score, the best times of year to visit El Escorial for general outdoor tourist activities run from mid May to mid July and again from mid August to mid October, with a peak score in the second week of September.

0246810JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecbest timebest timetravel scoretemperaturecloudsprecipitationSep 14 · 8.0

The travel score (filled area), and its constituents: the temperature score (red line), the cloud cover score (blue line), and the precipitation score (green line).

Travel score (0–10)Rating
Jan1.6poor
Feb2.6poor
Mar4.3fair
Apr5.2fair
May6.7good
Jun7.5good
Jul6.2good
Aug6.4good
Sep7.8ideal
Oct6.1good
Nov3.4poor
Dec1.9poor

The beach/pool score favors clear, rainless days with daytime highs between 24°C and 34°C. Based on this score, the best time of year to visit El Escorial for hot-weather activities is from mid June to mid September, with a peak score in the first week of July.

024681012JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecbest timebeach/pool scoretemperaturecloudsprecipitationJul 6 · 8.7

The beach/pool score (filled area), and its constituents: the temperature score (red line), the cloud cover score (blue line), and the precipitation score (green line).

What to pack for El Escorial, by month

EssentialRecommendedOptional

Month by month, what's worth putting in the bag — from the temperature range, rain chance, sun and wind. Tap a month for a quick packing note.

For a warm-season trip around July (highs near 30°C), the essentials are light clothes and sun protection. In the cold season around January (highs near 8°C), pack a warm layer.

Light clothing
Warm layer
Winter coat
Rain gear
Sun protection
Windbreaker

In July, El Escorial sees daytime highs around 30°C and nights near 17°C. Pack light clothes and sun protection.

UV index (midday) in El Escorial by month

LowModerateHighVery highExtreme

Clear-sky midday UV index through the year, shaded by the WHO exposure levels — how much sun protection each month calls for.

Under clear skies, the midday UV index in El Escorial peaks around July 15 at about 10 (very high) — sunscreen, a hat and midday shade are essential. It bottoms out near December 19 at about 2 (low).

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

025710JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecModerateHighVery highHighModerateLowJul 15UV 10Dec 19UV 2
UV index (midday)Level
Jan2Moderate
Feb2Moderate
Mar6High
Apr7High
May7High
Jun9Very high
Jul10Very high
Aug9Very high
Sep6High
Oct4Moderate
Nov2Moderate
Dec2Low

Average hourly UV index in El Escorial

LowModerateHighVery highExtreme

Modeled clear-sky UV for every hour of every day — when in the day sun protection actually matters.

The whole year hour by hour: each column is a day, each row an hour, and the color is the modeled clear-sky UV index — the midday peak scaled down as the sun sits lower in the sky. Darker overlays mark night, lighter ones the civil-twilight hours around sunrise and sunset.

UV falls off far faster than brightness as the sun drops, so even in July the burn window is concentrated in the middle of the day: about 8.5 hours a day reach index 3 (protection recommended), and 5.5 hours reach 6 or more. Mornings and late afternoons stay comparatively gentle year round.

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec12 AM2 AM4 AM6 AM8 AM10 AM12 PM2 PM4 PM6 PM8 PM10 PM12 AM
UV ≥ 3 (h/day)UV ≥ 6 (h/day)
Jan00
Feb00
Mar5.50
Apr73
May7.53
Jun8.55.5
Jul8.55.5
Aug85
Sep62
Oct40
Nov00
Dec00

Air quality in El Escorial by month

GoodModeratePoorUnhealthyVery unhealthy

Average fine-particle pollution (PM2.5) through the year — so you can see which months the air is worst, not just the yearly average.

Air quality in El Escorial is worst in August — around 15 µg/m³ PM2.5 (moderate), about 1.8× the cleanest month (July, 8 µg/m³).

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

01020JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecGoodModerateGoodModerateGoodAug 1714 µg/m³Jul 139 µg/m³
PM2.5 (µg/m³)Level
Jan12Good
Feb12Moderate
Mar13Moderate
Apr12Good
May9Good
Jun11Good
Jul8Good
Aug15Moderate
Sep10Good
Oct10Good
Nov9Good
Dec10Good
Almanac & agriculture

Growing season

Chance of a frost-free dayReliably frost-free (≥90%)

El Escorial is mild enough that a frost-free day stays more likely than not even in midwinter. Nights are reliably above freezing from about March 14 to November 16 (248 days); outside that window a hard frost is an occasional risk.

0%25%50%75%100%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecreliably frost-freeMar 1490%Nov 1690%
Frost-free chance (%)Frost nights
Jan6031
Feb6828
Mar8914
Apr970
May1000
Jun1000
Jul1000
Aug1000
Sep1000
Oct1000
Nov9015
Dec7131

Growing degree days

Degree days (base 10°C)Frost-free shaded

Growing degree days tally heat above 10°C: each day adds however many degrees its average temperature runs over that threshold, and cold days add nothing. El Escorial banks about 1,698 degree days a year, and the running total — which growers use to time plantings and predict maturity — climbs fastest around July.

05001,0001,500JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Growing degree days (°C·days)
Jan0
Feb0
Mar0
Apr29
May155
Jun306
Jul425
Aug411
Sep264
Oct107
Nov2
Dec0

Solar energy

Average daily shortwave solar energy reaching the ground, banded into brightness zones so the number means something at a glance.

Solar energy is how much sunlight actually reaches the ground each day, measured in kilowatt-hours per square metre (kWh/m²) — the combined effect of how long the sun is up, how high it climbs, and how much cloud gets in the way. It's the raw fuel a solar panel has to work with: for scale, 1 kWh/m² a day is dim and wintry, while 7+ is desert-bright.

El Escorial receives about 4.8 kWh/m² a day of solar energy on average — bright — with a clear seasonal swing between 1.8 and 7.8 kWh/m².

The brighter stretch of the year lasts 6.1 months, from around Mar 22 to Sep 23. The brightest month is July, averaging about 7.7 kWh/m² (intense).

The dimmest month is December, down near 1.9 kWh/m² — roughly 76% less than the July peak.

0123456789JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecdimmerbrighterdimmerdimmoderatebrightintenseJul 107.8 kWhDec 191.8 kWh
Solar energy (kWh/m²)Level
Jan2.2Moderate
Feb3.2Moderate
Mar4.5Bright
Apr5.7Bright
May6.7Intense
Jun7.5Intense
Jul7.8Intense
Aug6.9Intense
Sep5.3Bright
Oct3.5Moderate
Nov2.3Moderate
Dec1.8Dim

Where is El Escorial?

El Escorial sits at 40.6°N, 4.1°W, 917 m above sea level, in Spain. The nearest listed city is San Lorenzo de El Escorial, 2.0 km away.

Topography around El Escorial

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

Within 3 km, the terrain around El Escorial has significant variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 544 m around an average of 956 m above sea level; within 16 km, very significant variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 1,332 m; within 80 km, very significant variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 2,027 m.

The land around El Escorial is covered by trees (54%) and grassland (33%) within 3 km, grassland (46%) and trees (44%) within 16 km, and grassland (38%), cropland (32%) and trees (23%) within 80 km.

3 km
544 m
16 km
1,332 m
80 km
2,027 m
treesshrubsgrasslandcroplandartificial surfaceswater
Nearby: San Lorenzo de El Escorial 2.0 km · Galapagar 10 km · Collado-Villalba 12 km · Torrelodones 17 km · Villanueva del Pardillo 17 km · Villanueva de la Cañada 18 km · Las Rozas de Madrid 24 km · Majadahonda 25 km

Spain travel facts

Travel advisory
Level 2
Exercise Increased Caution
Power plugs
Type C / F
230 V · 50 Hz
Prices
≈ 65% of US
price level, 2025
GDP per capita
$38,627
2025
Happiness
6.5 / 10
World Happiness, 2025
Safe drinking water
99%
of population, 2024
Homicide rate
0.7
per 100k, 2023
Road deaths
3.9
per 100k/yr, 2019
Income group
High
World Bank
English
Moderate
EF EPI 540
Religion
Roman Catholic 58%atheist 16%agnostic 11%non-believer 11%

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 El Escorial (40.5825°, -4.1285°, elevation 917 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).