Lanzarote weather by month: temperature, sea, sun, rain and wind

Lanzarote has, in its tourist board’s words, scarce rainfall and sun for practically the whole year. AEMET, Spain’s state weather agency, publishes 30-year normals for its station at Lanzarote airport, 14 metres above sea level in San Bartolomé, and they show a narrow range: the average daily high never falls below 20.7°C (January) and rarely goes above 29°C (August). Nights are mild too, from 14.0°C in January to 21.2°C in August.

Rain is scarce. The airport averages 111 mm in a year, and only 19 days bring 1 mm or more. December is the wettest month with 29 mm over 3.8 days; from May to September there is almost none. Sunshine adds up to 2,986 hours a year, from 196 hours in December to 308 in July.

The sea is the slowest to change. Turismo Lanzarote, the island’s tourist board, gives water temperatures of 18°C from February to April, rising to 23°C in September and October, and 20 to 21°C in November and December. That lag is why autumn swimming feels warmer than spring swimming at the same air temperature.

The table gives every month. These are the island’s official figures, but they are measured at one place, on the east coast, so read them as a guide for the resorts of Puerto del Carmen, Costa Teguise and Playa Blanca, which all sit at sea level.

From November to March the air is warm enough to lie out by day, with highs of 20.7 to 24.2°C and more than 200 hours of sun in every month except December, which has 196. The sea is the cool part: 18 to 21°C. That is fine for a swim in the afternoon but cold for long sessions with small children, so a heated pool makes the biggest difference to a winter week.

Our list of hotels with heated pools counts 39 that heat at least one: 16 in Playa Blanca, 13 in Puerto del Carmen and 7 in Costa Teguise. Some heat all year and some only in winter, so check the wording on each hotel’s page. Of the eight below, Seaside Los Jameos and Villa VIK heat their pools all year, LIVVO Morromar heats from November to March, and THB Tropical Island heats eight of its 15 pools in winter.

Playa Blanca is the pick for winter. Playa Flamingo and the Papagayo coves are among the beaches the tourist board marks as out of the wind, and it has the most heated-pool hotels on the island. Puerto del Carmen has 13 heated-pool hotels and Playa Grande, marked as not windy, in the centre, and Costa Teguise suits active trips, with a 10-lane heated pool at Barceló Lanzarote Active Resort.

On temperature, there is little to choose. Lanzarote is low and small, every resort is at sea level, and AEMET publishes normals for only one station on the island. What changes from beach to beach is the wind and the waves.

The trade wind blows from the north or north-east on most days, so the beaches that face south and west are the sheltered ones. Turismo Lanzarote’s beach sheets flag each beach for wind. Papagayo, Flamingo in Playa Blanca and Playa Grande in the centre of Puerto del Carmen are marked as not windy, with calm water. Los Pocillos and Matagorda, the long beaches at the eastern end of Puerto del Carmen, and Las Cucharas and El Jablillo in Costa Teguise are marked as windy, though still calm in the water; Las Cucharas is noted as a favourite with windsurfers. Famara on the north-west coast is windy with strong waves, which is why it is the island’s surf beach.

For the calmest days in the sea, the boat and kayak trips to the Papagayo coves start in Playa Blanca, on the south coast; our Papagayo beaches guide covers access and the coves one by one.

Wind is the part of Lanzarote’s weather that brochures leave out and that the island’s farmers built their vineyards around: the half-moon stone walls of La Geria shelter each vine from it. AEMET’s normals do not include wind, so the figures here are model data (ERA5 via Open-Meteo): 20-year averages, 2006 to 2025, for the grid square over the airport and the east coast.

The pattern is clear. The trade wind sets in hardest in July and August, when the mean wind speed is 29 to 31 km/h, about force 5, and it blows from the north or north-east on nearly every day. September and October are the calmest months, at 21 to 23 km/h. Winter sits between, at 24 to 26 km/h, with more days when the wind turns to another direction.

That summer breeze takes the edge off the 28 to 29°C highs. It also means sunbeds on the open east-coast beaches can be breezy in July, while the south-facing Playa Blanca beaches stay calmer. The grid square takes in open sea, so expect less wind on a sheltered beach and more on a headland.

Calima is the Spanish name for Saharan dust carried out over the Canaries on an east or south-east wind. Lanzarote is the Canary island closest to Africa. During an episode the sky turns hazy and yellow-grey, visibility drops and air quality worsens; AEMET’s account of the February 2021 episode describes the islands as almost hidden under a blanket of dust, with dense calima reported on Lanzarote.

Episodes come in waves and usually last a few days. The 2021 one ran from 14 to 18 February and had cleared by the 19th. AEMET’s blog calls the February 2020 episode extraordinary, and the 2021 one came in the same month. That is consistent with the wind record above, which has the fewest days of north and north-east wind in December and January.

You cannot plan around calima, but you can work with it. On a hazy day an indoor or sheltered plan works well: the submarine dive from Puerto Calero, LagOmar’s caves and gardens, or a wine tasting in La Geria.

For a beach holiday with warm water, go from June to October. The sea is 20 to 23°C, highs are 26 to 29°C, and there is almost no rain. September and October are the sweet spot: the sea is at its warmest, 23°C, the air is still warm at 26.7 to 28.6°C, and they are the two least windy months of the year.

May is the best month for sun without the summer heat, with 297 hours of sunshine and a 24.6°C high, though the sea is still 19°C. From November to April you will still get beach days, with highs above 20°C every month, but most swimmers will want a heated pool for the long swims and a sheltered beach for the sea.

The catamaran from Puerto Calero to Papagayo runs a four-hour day with lunch, a sea slide and water toys, which is a good way to use one of the calm September or October days.

Walk from November to April. Highs are 20.7 to 24.2°C from November to March, and April adds 23.5°C with 255 hours of sun and only 1.3 rain days. The lava fields of Timanfaya and Los Volcanes have no shade and dark rock that holds the heat, so July and August, at 28 to 29°C, are hard work in the middle of the day.

The two walks on this site both go into the volcanic landscape. The guided hike across Timanfaya’s lava fields is about 9 km over 3 hours in groups of 10, rated 4.8 from 1,588 GetYourGuide reviews and from €44 a person, read 15 November 2026. The volcano summit hike in Los Volcanes Natural Park takes 3.5 to 4 hours with transfers, rated 4.9 from 959 reviews and from €42; its listing asks for a warm layer. For the park’s coach route, the geothermal demonstrations and tickets, see our Timanfaya visit guide.

In summer, choose a morning start and carry more water than you think you need.

Famara is a 6 km beach of fine golden sand on the north-west coast, open to the Atlantic, and the tourist board lists it for surf, windsurf and kitesurf. The waves are there all year, but they change with the season.

From October to March the North Atlantic sends bigger, longer swells. On model data (Open-Meteo marine archive, 2016 to 2025), the sea off Famara averages a daily top wave height of 2.2 to 2.9 metres in those months, with swell periods of 10 to 12 seconds, the clean, spaced waves that experienced surfers travel for. From May to September it drops to about 1.7 to 1.9 metres with a shorter period, which is friendlier for a first lesson. Off the south coast the same figures are about half, which is why Playa Blanca and Puerto del Carmen are for swimming, not surfing.

Beginners can learn in any month. The Famara surf lessons on this site run for 2 or 4 hours with board and wetsuit included, rated 4.9 from 327 GetYourGuide reviewers and from €45, read 15 November 2026. Famara is a drive from the southern resorts, so it suits a hire car or a stay on the north-west coast.

Rain is light when it comes. Even December, the wettest month, averages 3.8 days with 1 mm or more, and its 29 mm works out at about 8 mm a rain day. The whole year has 19 rain days.

Winter evenings are the cool part of the year: lows of 14.0 to 15.4°C from December to February, with a breeze. Pack a jumper and long trousers for dinner on a terrace, and a light windproof for boat trips and the northern viewpoints. In summer, the risk is the sun rather than the heat: July has 308 hours of sunshine, so a hat and high-factor sunscreen matter more than extra layers.

For a family holiday by the month, including half-term, and for Christmas and New Year, our seasonal guides give the dates and the events; this page stays with the weather.