Climate and average weather in Malaga

In Malaga, the summers are hot, dry, and clear and the winters are cool and mostly clear.

Best: early May to mid October

Over the course of the year, the temperature in Malaga typically varies from 7°C to 29°C, and is rarely below 4°C or above 33°C. August is the hottest month of the year, while January is the coldest.

Based on the travel score, the best time of year to visit Malaga for warm-weather activities is from early May to mid October.

Hottest
Aug
29°
Coldest
Jan
Wettest
Dec
70 mm
Driest
Jul
1 mm
Rain / yr
457 mm
60 wet days
Daylight
9.5–14.5 h
shortest–longest
Elevation
22 m
36.7°N
Clearest
Jul
10% cloud

Malaga is Andalusian city, capital of Málaga province.

Air quality
Moderate
PM10 30.9 µg/m³ · 2019
Founded
~800 BCE

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

Malaga 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 early May to mid October.

Temperature through the year

Average highAverage lowShaded bands: 10–90% of days

Daily average highs and lows in Malaga, 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 14 to September 15, with daily high temperatures above 25°C. The hottest month of the year in Malaga is August, with an average high of 29°C and low of 20°C.

The cool season lasts 4.1 months, from November 17 to March 21, with daily high temperatures below 17°C. The coldest month of the year in Malaga is January, with an average low of 7°C and high of 14°C.

Days typically run about 8°C warmer than nights year-round.

10°20°30°JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Avg high (°C)Avg low (°C)
Jan147
Feb158
Mar179
Apr1911
May2214
Jun2617
Jul2920
Aug2920
Sep2518
Oct2214
Nov1711
Dec159

Average hourly temperature in Malaga

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 August afternoons, near 29°C, and coldest before dawn in January, near C.

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

Malaga weather by month

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

MonthHigh / Low (°C)Rainfall (mm)Wet daysDaylight (hours)Travel score
Jan14° / 567.49.84.6
Feb15° / 496.510.65.0
Mar17° / 53711.75.9
Apr19° / 11°416.712.96.7
May22° / 14°264.613.97.9
Jun26° / 17°91.314.58.8
Jul29° / 20°10.314.37.9
Aug29° / 20°40.813.47.7
Sep25° / 18°243.512.28.3
Oct22° / 14°546.911.17.3
Nov17° / 11°707.4106.1
Dec15° / 707.69.54.9

Chance of rain

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

Malaga gets about 457 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 7.3 months, from around Sep 29 to May 8, peaking in January at about 27% chance on a given day. The drier stretch runs the rest of the year, bottoming out around Jul 24.

December is the wettest month by volume, with 70 mm over about 8 wet days; July is the driest, with 1 mm.

0%10%20%30%40%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecwetterdrierwettermostly drysome rainoften wetJan 24 · 27%Jul 24 · 1%
Rain on a day (%)Rain days
Jan247
Feb247
Mar227
Apr227
May155
Jun51
Jul10
Aug31
Sep114
Oct237
Nov247
Dec248

Monthly rainfall

Over a full year, Malaga collects about 457 mm of rain across 60 wet days — roughly 38 mm in an average month.

It doesn’t fall evenly. December is the wettest month with 70 mm, while July is the driest at just 1 mm. The three wettest months alone bring about 43% of the year’s total.

0255075100JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec564953412691424547070
Rainfall (mm)Rain days
Jan567
Feb497
Mar537
Apr417
May265
Jun91
Jul10
Aug41
Sep244
Oct547
Nov707
Dec708

Clouds and sunshine

ClearMostly clearPartly cloudyMostly cloudyOvercast

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

In Malaga, 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 14 and lasts for 4.7 months, ending around October 4. The clearest month is July, when the sky is clear, mostly clear, or partly cloudy 97% of the time on average.

The cloudier part of the year begins around October 5 and lasts for 7.3 months, ending around May 13. The cloudiest month is December, when it is overcast or mostly cloudy 45% 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 17 · 97%Dec 21 · 54%clearmostly clearpartly cloudymostly cloudyovercastcloudierclearercloudier
Clearer (%)Cloudier (%)
Jan5842
Feb6337
Mar6238
Apr6436
May7426
Jun8911
Jul973
Aug946
Sep8020
Oct6634
Nov6238
Dec5545

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 11, brings about 14 h 30 min of light; the shortest, around January 1, only 9 h 30 min — a swing of roughly 5 hours.

12 AM4 AM8 AM12 PM4 PM8 PM12 AMJanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Daylight (h)Sunrise (AM)Sunset (PM)
Jan9.88:356:19
Feb10.68:146:50
Mar11.77:367:19
Apr12.96:507:46
May13.96:158:13
Jun14.56:038:33
Jul14.36:158:32
Aug13.46:398:04
Sep12.27:057:19
Oct11.17:316:34
Nov10.08:036:03
Dec9.58:295:59

Sunny days

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

Malaga averages about 17 sunny days a month — counting the days the sky stays clear or mostly clear — with a clear seasonal swing between 11 and 28 days.

The sunnier stretch runs 4.4 months, from around May 21 to Oct 1. The sunniest month is July, with roughly 28 sunny days (brilliant).

The greyest month is December, down near 12 sunny days — about 58% fewer than the July peak.

05101520253035JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecgreyersunniergreyergloomymixedbrightbrilliantJul 2328 daysDec 2311 days
Sunny daysSky
Jan13Mixed
Feb13Mixed
Mar14Mixed
Apr13Mixed
May17Bright
Jun23Brilliant
Jul28Brilliant
Aug26Brilliant
Sep19Bright
Oct14Mixed
Nov13Mixed
Dec12Mixed

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 Malaga, how humid it feels changes dramatically over the year.

The more humid part of the year lasts 4.0 months, from around June 13 to October 13. The muggiest month is August, when the air feels humid, muggy or worse about 74% of the time.

The most comfortable stretch runs from around October 14 to June 12, and January is the most comfortable month — the air is dry or comfortable 100% of the time.

0%10%20%30%40%50%60%70%80%90%100%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecJan 10 · 100%Aug 16 · 25%muggyhumidcomfortabledrycomfortablehumidcomfortable
Dry (%)Comfortable (%)Humid (%)Muggy (%)
Jan100000
Feb100000
Mar99100
Apr94600
May712620
Jun3243223
Jul10304119
Aug6203934
Sep16324012
Oct4042180
Nov851410
Dec97300

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.

Across the year, average wind speed in Malaga is typically calm, near 8 km/h, and varies little with the seasons.

The windier part of the year lasts 6.1 months, from around Oct 30 to May 3. The windiest month is January, averaging about 10 km/h (calm).

The calmer part of the year runs from around May 4 to Oct 29, with July the calmest month at about 7 km/h.

051015JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecwindiercalmerwindiercalmlight breezeJan 30 · 10 km/hJul 29 · 7 km/h
Wind speed (km/h)Feels
Jan10calm
Feb10calm
Mar9calm
Apr9calm
May8calm
Jun7calm
Jul7calm
Aug7calm
Sep7calm
Oct8calm
Nov9calm
Dec9calm

Best time to visit Malaga

TravelBeach/poolTemperatureCloudsPrecipitation

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

Around early October, Malaga 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 time of year to visit Malaga for general outdoor tourist activities is from early May to mid October, with a peak score in the last week of June.

0246810JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecbest timetravel scoretemperaturecloudsprecipitationJun 22 · 8.9

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
Jan4.6fair
Feb5.0fair
Mar5.9good
Apr6.7good
May7.9ideal
Jun8.8ideal
Jul7.9ideal
Aug7.7ideal
Sep8.2ideal
Oct7.3good
Nov6.1good
Dec4.9fair

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 Malaga for hot-weather activities is from early June to mid September, with a peak score in the last week of July.

024681012JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecbest timebeach/pool scoretemperaturecloudsprecipitationJul 25 · 9.5

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 Malaga, 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 August (highs near 29°C), the essentials are light clothes and sun protection. In the cold season around January (highs near 14°C), pack a warm layer.

Light clothing
Warm layer
Winter coat
Rain gear
Sun protection
Windbreaker

In August, Malaga sees daytime highs around 29°C and nights near 20°C. Pack light clothes and sun protection.

Sea temperature near Malaga

Average ocean temperature at the nearest coast, month by month, banded into swim-comfort zones — the other half of the beach question.

The sea offshore is warmest in August at about 23°C and coldest in February near 15°C.

It's comfortable for a long swim from Jun 19 to Oct 9 — about 3.7 months when the water holds above 20°C.

15°20°25°JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecbracingcoolrefreshingwarmcomfortable to swim
Sea temperature (°C)Comfort
Jan15Cool
Feb15Cool
Mar15Cool
Apr16Cool
May18Cool
Jun20Cool
Jul22Refreshing
Aug23Refreshing
Sep22Refreshing
Oct20Cool
Nov17Cool
Dec16Cool

UV index (midday) in Malaga 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 Malaga peaks around July 17 at about 10 (very high) — sunscreen, a hat and midday shade are essential. It bottoms out near December 20 at about 2 (moderate).

The index reaches 3 or more — the level where the WHO recommends sun protection — in 9 months of the year.

025710JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecModerateVery highHighModerateJul 17UV 10Dec 20UV 2
UV index (midday)Level
Jan2Moderate
Feb3Moderate
Mar7High
Apr8Very high
May7Very high
Jun8Very high
Jul10Extreme
Aug9Very high
Sep7High
Oct5High
Nov3Moderate
Dec2Moderate

Average hourly UV index in Malaga

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
Mar6.52.5
Apr7.54.5
May7.54
Jun85
Jul8.55.5
Aug7.54.5
Sep6.53
Oct50
Nov10
Dec00

Air quality in Malaga 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 Malaga is worst in March — around 15 µg/m³ PM2.5 (moderate), about 2.0× the cleanest month (December, 8 µg/m³).

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

01020JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecGoodModerateGoodModerateGoodMar 1615 µg/m³Dec 158 µg/m³
PM2.5 (µg/m³)Level
Jan9Good
Feb13Moderate
Mar15Moderate
Apr12Good
May10Good
Jun10Good
Jul12Moderate
Aug13Moderate
Sep12Good
Oct11Good
Nov8Good
Dec8Good
Almanac & agriculture

Growing season

Chance of a frost-free dayFrost-free year round

Malaga is frost-free year round — even the coldest nights rarely reach freezing, so there is no start or end to the growing season.

0%25%50%75%100%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecfrost-free year round
Frost-free chance (%)Frost nights
Jan1000
Feb1000
Mar1000
Apr1000
May1000
Jun1000
Jul1000
Aug1000
Sep1000
Oct1000
Nov1000
Dec1000

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. Malaga banks about 2,531 degree days a year, and the running total — which growers use to time plantings and predict maturity — climbs fastest around August.

01,0002,000JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Growing degree days (°C·days)
Jan21
Feb36
Mar93
Apr145
May243
Jun344
Jul438
Aug445
Sep346
Oct247
Nov120
Dec53

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.

Malaga receives about 5.2 kWh/m² a day of solar energy on average — bright — with a clear seasonal swing between 2.3 and 8.0 kWh/m².

The brighter stretch of the year lasts 6.1 months, from around Mar 21 to Sep 21. The brightest month is July, averaging about 7.9 kWh/m² (intense).

The dimmest month is December, down near 2.4 kWh/m² — roughly 70% less than the July peak.

0123456789JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecdimmerbrighterdimmerdimmoderatebrightintenseJul 18.0 kWhDec 212.3 kWh
Solar energy (kWh/m²)Level
Jan2.7Moderate
Feb3.7Moderate
Mar4.9Bright
Apr6.1Intense
May7.1Intense
Jun7.9Intense
Jul7.9Intense
Aug7.1Intense
Sep5.5Bright
Oct4.0Moderate
Nov2.9Moderate
Dec2.3Moderate

Where is Malaga?

Malaga sits at 36.7°N, 4.4°W, 22 m above sea level, in Spain. The nearest listed city is Rincón de la Victoria, 13 km away.

What Malaga looks like

Topography around Malaga

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

Within 3 km, the terrain around Malaga has only modest variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 203 m around an average of 34 m above sea level; within 16 km, large variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 1,022 m; within 80 km, very significant variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 2,062 m.

The land around Malaga is covered by artificial surfaces (47%) and water (29%) within 3 km, water (33%) and grassland (22%) within 16 km, and trees (31%), water (30%) and grassland (22%) within 80 km.

3 km
203 m
16 km
1,022 m
80 km
2,062 m
treesshrubsgrasslandcroplandartificial surfacesbare terrainwater
Nearby: Rincón de la Victoria 13 km · Torremolinos 13 km · Alhaurín de la Torre 14 km · Arroyo de la Miel 17 km · Cártama 19 km · Benalmádena 19 km · Mijas 24 km · Alhaurín el Grande 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 Malaga (36.7202°, -4.4203°, elevation 22 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. Sea temperatures are the NOAA OISST v2.1 1991–2020 monthly climatology (public domain), sampled at the nearest ocean point. 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).