Zumaia » Location » Climate



Sight of Zumaia's Faro in summer

The climate of Zumaia is of an oceanic variety, strongly influenced by the proximity of the Bay of Biscay which tempers the rigours of winter and prevents summers from becoming excessively hot. The winds are humid, clouds are abundant and the rain frequent.

The annual average temperature is around 13ºC, with an average temperature difference of around 12ºC between the hottest month, August, and the coldest, January, which is larger than other Cantabrian regions located towards the west. Frosts and very hot days are scarce. In general, ice can only be seen in the early hours of the morning on less than about five days a year. In summer, it is rare for the temperature to exceed 30ºC, and the ceiling of 35ºC is only passed less than 10 days a year.

It rains the most in the autumn, with maximum rainfalls of a little less than 2,000 mm³ and averages of around 1,500 mm³. It is in the beginning of the summer when the region has its driest spell.

Normally, the prevailing winds come mainly from the North, with those coming from the South very few. The strongest winds blow during the end of the autumn and winter, with frequent gusts of more than 80 km/h. In spells of rough weather, when storms are centred in the North Sea and the British Isles, winds that can reach up to140 km/h enter from the northwest. On some occasions, particularly during the summer, the winds from the northwest reach the stage of a galerna, even more so if the temperature has been high during the day.



Occasional snowfall on the coast

The most humid periods are normally due to winds of Atlantic origin, coming from the West and North, which are pushed towards the Basque-Cantabrian mountain range, relatively near to the coast, which forces them rise, cooling them and leading to rain.

On the other hand, winds from the Northeast, the East and the South generate dry conditions. The first two bring continental air, cold and dry, with cloudless skies and good visibility, which can cause nocturnal frosts in the winter. The winds from the South, dry and warm, which sometimes blow with a force greater than 100 km/h, reduce the environmental humidity to 30 or 40% and raise the temperature to values near to 35ºC during the summer.