Madeira weather · January

Weather in Madeira in January

January is Madeira's quiet, green month. The south coast stays mild enough for t-shirt walking on sunny afternoons, while the peaks above 1,500 m turn properly cold and occasionally see frost or a dusting of snow. Rain comes in spells rather than settling in for weeks.

What are Madeira's temperatures, rain and sea like in January?

10-year monthly averages (2016-01-01 to 2025-12-31), historical archive. See all months

Where does January rank among Madeira's twelve months?

Measured on the south coast, January is number 6 of 12 for rain, number 12 of 12 for sunshine and number 9 of 12 for sea temperature, where number 1 is the wettest, the sunniest and the warmest month of the year.

In figures: 79 mm of rain, in a year that runs from 11 to 91 mm. 8.1 hours of sun a day, against a yearly range of 8.1 to 12.8. A sea of 20.2 °C, against 19.4 to 24.9 °C across the year. The order uses the same ten-year averages as the table above, so it describes a typical January rather than any single year, and it holds for the south coast only: the north coast and the summits keep their own order.

Why does Madeira's weather differ so much by coast and altitude?

The three rows above are the point: in the same January week, Funchal and the summits behave like different countries. Madeira's mountains split every weather system in two, so "weather in Madeira" is really the weather of whichever coast and altitude you stand on. The pattern is explained in our microclimate guide; for a specific day, live per-trail conditions beat any monthly average.

The three rows are three altitudes, not three towns: Funchal sits at 25 m, Porto Moniz at 20 m and Pico do Arieiro at 1,818 m. That last figure is why the third row reads like another island. In January its average day maximum is 11.7 °C below Funchal's, so a walk that starts in a t-shirt on the coast finishes in a warm layer at the top.

Wind splits the same way. In January the daily peak averages 11 km/h at Pico do Arieiro, 15 km/h at Funchal and 15 km/h at Porto Moniz. Each figure is the average of the strongest reading of each day over ten years, so single days run well above it. What decides whether you feel it is exposure, not altitude: the ridge between Pico do Arieiro and Pico Ruivo and the coastal spine of Ponta de São Lourenço have nothing to break the wind, while a levada running inside laurel forest barely registers it.

Is January a good month for hiking in Madeira?

Work with the island's split personality. After a wet spell the north and the high levadas run loud with water, which is exactly when the waterfall walks earn their name. On grey days the driest ground is almost always the south coast between Funchal and Ponta do Sol. Check official trail status before driving up: winter storms are the main reason a path closes for a few days.

Good starting points this month: easy levada walks and waterfall hikes. Regulated classics like PR1 need advance booking via SIMplifica.

What is January like in Madeira beyond the weather?

The first days of January still carry Funchal's New Year atmosphere, and the mountain views are at their sharpest between weather fronts. Pack a warm layer for anything above 1,200 m; the summit averages barely reach 7 °C.

Common questions

Nearby months: December · February
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