# Algarve Winter Weather



## Cliath

Hi All,
I have been reading through some of the threads on this forum and I'm impressed with what seem to be very sensible and honest responses to queries. Recently retired, I'm toying with the idea of finding a warmer place to spend the winter and just from internet research have narrowed my search to southern Spain or the Algarve. In reality, I know zilch about either place, but have a feeling that Portugal would suit me better although it seems to be more expensive than Spain. 

I have lots of questions which I hope won't try your patience, starting with the weather. Is winter in the Algarve very much harsher/wetter/colder than in southern Spain? Are houses/apartments hard to heat? Is it easy to get around in winter time or would I be housebound due to lack of public transport, etc?


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## Cliath

Thank you Vedal, but I think I'm too new here to have a private message facility.

Can you recommend any towns close to the sea and not too far from Faro airport. As far as I can see from Ryanair and Aer Lingus websites they both operate direct flights from Dublin to Faro all year round.


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## jojo

http://www.expatforum.com/expats/po...tugal/50720-weather-silver-coast-algarve.html Heres a thread, albeit an old one written by those who actually live in Portugal and who arent simply trying to do business

Jo xxx


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## jojo

I personally would recommend the Canary Islands for a good all year temperature and a relatively mild winter - certainly warmer than Southern Spain or Portugal. southern Spain can be wet cold and windy during the winter months and the houses are hard to heat as central heating is quite rare and houses are really built for the heat, so lots of cool tiles etc. 

Jo xxx


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## Cliath

Thanks Jo. One visit to Gran Canaria years ago was enough for me. I didn't like anything about it. Reading through the old thread about the weather, I suspect that the Algarve might not suit me either. Mention of it being very touristy and expats being targeted by East European gangs is rather off-putting. Perhaps I'm living in cloud cuckoo land thinking I could find an affordable place in an area with a decent climate and an ambience suited to our quiet lifestyle.


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## jojo

Cliath said:


> Thanks Jo. One visit to Gran Canaria years ago was enough for me. I didn't like anything about it. Reading through the old thread about the weather, I suspect that the Algarve might not suit me either. Mention of it being very touristy and expats being targeted by East European gangs is rather off-putting. Perhaps I'm living in cloud cuckoo land thinking I could find an affordable place in an area with a decent climate and an ambience suited to our quiet lifestyle.


 I dont think you are. Most places have quiet corners - altho in tourist areas they are few and far between. Even the Canaries have quieter Islands. We have a poster Expat Forum For Expats, For Moving Overseas And For Jobs Abroad - View Profile: Hepa and he "bangs" on all the time about how wonderful his Island is - it sounds like it could be your sort of place???? Take a look at his profile, his link https://picasaweb.google.com/109554...authkey=Gv1sRgCLbx9cPRkru9gAE&feat=directlink and maybe some of his posts over on the Spanish forum Spain Expat Forum for Expats Living in Spain - Expat Forum For Expats, For Moving Overseas And For Jobs Abroad

Jo xxxx


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## Cliath

I'll have a look but I would prefer something on the European mainland......easier to get to and more to see during long stays.


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## jojo

Cliath said:


> I'll have a look but I would prefer something on the European mainland......easier to get to and more to see during long stays.


 Well come onto the Spanish forum and ask the same questions that you have here on the Portugal forum and see what comes up???? The winters maybe a bit chilly for you tho???


Jo xxx


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## Cliath

Will do. Spanish winters are bound to be warmer than here in Ireland. Frost-free and less rain would suffice, although I wouldn't want to shiver at night. Presumably they have some kind of heating.


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## jojo

Cliath said:


> Will do. Spanish winters are bound to be warmer than here in Ireland. Frost-free and less rain would suffice, although I wouldn't want to shiver at night. Presumably they have some kind of heating.


hhhmm, Spain doesnt have piped gas (maybe in the cities), so houses tend to rely on electric or bottled gas heaters. Couple that with the tiles, the lack of adequate insulation and damp courses.... They're not easy to keep warm, altho in a small room with a real fire and rugs, they can be made quite cosy

Jo xxx


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## siobhanwf

If you look at the BBC weather charts you get a good idea of Algarve weather

BBC Weather : Faro


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## Cliath

Jo: I'm not looking for a mansion - just a winter bolthole - so I reckon the rooms would be quite small. Solid fuel heating is a no-no. I have started a thread on the Spain forum.

Siobhan: Thank you for the link. I've had a quick glance at it and it could be very helpful. I'll check it out again tomorrow and try to compare average temperatures/rainfall between Spain, Portugal and Ireland.


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## canoeman

Portuguese weather site has historical information
main site Instituto de Meteorologia, IP Portugal
Historical use the parameter to select min, max & avg temp, rainfall and years go back to 2004 Instituto de Meteorologia, IP Portugal

solid fuel you can't buy coal in Portugal, one of the cheapest to run and easiest heating options is a wood pellet burning stove for a small property they would heat whole place by leaving doors open or run a underfloor or C/heating rads.

Access or moving around in summer or winter then you need to concentrate on the major towns/villages that follow the coast it's when you move into the hinterland that public transport becomes more of a challenge, you really need to visit late in the year and travel from one end of the Algarve to the other, select the towns that appeal to you and go from there.

Portugal v Spain well your on the Portuguese forum so you'll get a biased answer even with current crisis Portugal's a far better option, more expensive it's all swings and roundabouts, and really depends on your lifestyle.

Spain especially if your looking at the sort of Expats areas think you'll find turning into ghost towns as people are pulling out if they can make a sale.


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## Sonho

Winter in the Algarve is all over the place. Most of the winters have been pretty mild with night temps in between 4 and 10 degrees. Day time temps are between 15 and 23. Sun sporadically, and some rain. The weather is not consistent, either way.

Lots of expats but it is still quiet in the winter. You will need to be in a town center if you want to rely on public transportation. 
Heating is not a huge issue as most of the new builds have electric or gas heat. It can be spendy so renting a place with a fire place is a good idea.


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## Cliath

Thanks to everyone who took the trouble to answer my questions. I have a lot of thinking to do.

Reading this and the Spanish forum as well as other internet sites, I got the impression that I would feel more secure and fit in better in Portugal (East European gangsters aside). I also got the impression that, should we decide to buy a place of our own, there are fewer pitfalls in Portugal and we would be less likely to be fleeced by sales/inheritance taxes down the road. 

As far as I can tell, there isn't a huge difference in climate between Southern Spain and parts of southern Portugal, i.e. Spring and Autumn would suit me perfectly but the dead of winter is iffy. This leave the quality of housing and infrastructure and Spain (at least the part of Spain that that looks more promising) has better public transport. 

What about the quality of housing in Portugal? Don't they have any houses with proper insulation? There seem to be a lot of earthquakes around the Algarve. Are properties built to withstand earthquakes? Apartments are probably warmer in winter but I wouldn't fancy being a few storeys off the ground or having a few storeys above me during an earth tremor.


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## steve01

I've just read this load of nonsense the, links to the meteo sites excepted like i'd read a science fiction book about Mars.

East european gangsters ?
Incredible weather - suggestions that winter here is an endless 4degree nights in the algarve
Worries about earthquakes
Concerns over bog standard public transport links

Which planet are we referring to - certainly not the Algarve i live in

You're Irish - take Dublin out of the equation, don't live in the middle of nowhere and the algarve is no worse than Ireland - at worse you'll have to take a 3 euro taxi to go to the nearest hub in a nearbye town - taxis are very cheap here compared to Ireland, buses run from one end to the other and the train goes all the way from South to North of the whole of Portugal.
Gangsters - ridiculous - a few scrawy lads were pimping for a few even scrawnier girls for a while along the main road - if that threatens you go to Dublin on a Saturday night.
Earthquakes -lots of very small tremors that only the scientists feel - common across the whole of Southern Europe and most of Northern europe - last year i lived in England we had a bigger earthquake in Coventry than any in Portugal that year - last major earthquake was 176?
Anyway for at least 40 years any building in a 'zone' had to have proper earthquake proof foundations. - so don't live in an old house and you'll be fine.
Building regs here - especially in the last 20 years are amonst the tighest in Europe - so yes insulation, the only real difference is its based on concrete/ block structures - most newer houses have good insulation. good double glazing, shutters etc 
Weather - 1 bad winter in 10,especially if you avoid the West coast.
Last year - virtually no rain , no snow, 1 frost - we used the heating once and lit the wood burner maybe 20 times in the evening - mostly we sunbathed, every month from November to May had prolongued periods of great weather, BBq'd and had a great time.
Usually there's more rain - but if you thinnk of the algarve winter as similar to the Irish summer you won't be far wrong.
The rest of you please don't put such stupid nonsense on again - usually this is a good web site


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## Cliath

With respect, Steve01, I know Dublin and Ireland very well. I know where to go and where to avoid. I joined this forum because I know nothing about Portugal and wanted to find out about it from people living there. I have a car here and can drive to anywhere that doesn't have a public transport link. I won't have a car in Portugal - at least on my first visit - because I'm reticent to drive on the "wrong" side of the road on strange roads in a strange country where I don't know the rules of the road and may not understand signs/warnings. I don't want to be relying on taxis for shopping and errands, so public transport will be very important to me. I just want to know whether, and what part of Portugal would suit me and whether I would feel comfortable there. I want to find out as much as I can before making an initial visit. I asked about earthquakes because on Canoeman's link the Meterological Society had a section on seismic activity which showed plenty of earthquakes clustered around the Algarve. If you found my questions to be provocative or offensive, I apologise. I won't ask any more.

Thanks for telling me that the more modern house are well built and insulated.


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## grandwazoo

Just to say I live in Alvor on the Algarve - in a brand new property - and my experience is 100% the same as Steve01. And there's nothing offensive about your questions Cliath, there have just been some silly answers.


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## jojo

Cliath said:


> If you found my questions to be provocative or offensive, I apologise. I won't ask any more.


 Ignore anyone on here who claims that your questions are provocative or offensive, they speak for themselves. This is the whole point of the forum - to ask questions and fact find. You are using the forum correctly! So you keep on asking. As you're finding out, you'll get lots of different opinions cos there are lots of different people who all have different viewpoints. In the end, you have to read everything, take a view on whether it sounds good for you, then go and take a look - that will be the fun part!!!! Remember that everything is relative. Portuguese winters will be warm to those who lived in the Arctic for example!!!! 

Jo xxx


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## Cliath

In fairness, maybe I over-reacted. Need to remind myself that the absence of body language and tone of voice can make things said on the internet come across as being more abrupt than was meant.

I'm fairly satisfied that weather will be ok for me. The weather worldwide has been freaky these past few years and every country has had its share of freaky storms, floods, etc. I'll probably go the easy (hotel) route on my first visit and see as much as I can. If I like the look of a place I can check later for long term lets for next year.

Thanks, Grandwazoo, for mentioning Alvor. I'll be looking at the Algarve first because two airlines fly Dublin/Faro direct. I'd also like to look at the area south of Lisbon. The Met site showed a stretch of that coastline to have similar weather to the Algarve. As far as I know, only Aer Lingus flies Dublin/Lisbon direct and I'm not sure about the long term future of Aer Lingus.

If we do settle on Portugal and decide to buy something there, I'll have lots of questions. Having previously owned a holiday home in the sun, I have some experience of what to look out for. Building regulations with regard to earthquakes will be very high on the list. Our holiday home was built to (then) earthquake standards. There was a tremor many miles from us.....just a mild quake but it shook our house. To us it was just a novel experience until we found out that all our neighbours had spent the rest of the night outdoors. Our neighbours knew the potential damage of quakes and aftershocks and they taught me a lesson I won't forget.

Thanks again to everyone for your very generous advice. I think I have enough information now to set me on my way.


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## Liesbetje

canoeman said:


> Portuguese weather site has historical information
> main site Instituto de Meteorologia, IP Portugal
> Historical use the parameter to select min, max & avg temp, rainfall and years go back to 2004 Instituto de Meteorologia, IP Portugal


Thank you for these links, Canoeman. Very helpful! For some reason I always thought I'd freeze my ass off if I'd go to inland Alentejo (Mértola up to Marvão) in wintertime, but it doesn't seem to bed. Minus 2 ain't too bad if the sun shines during the day


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## canoeman

You are looking up in the Serra's so I would visit especially Feb March to get some idea, you can see by years 2012 is not following weather patterns.


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## notlongnow

Personally, I don't think that historical temperatures etc really tell the whole story about how chilly it can feel in the Algarve in winter.

Tiled floors, no carpets and no central heating means you can feel a lot colder than you usually do in England. Reverse cycle air conditioning does not heat a home in the same way. It heats a room at a time, leaving hallways cold. Oil fired radiators work well but are very expensive to run.

Last winter was dry and mild. Go back to 2009, however, and we had torrential rain for weeks and weeks.

The Algarve is a great place to live, but as many locals say, it is better to think of it as a cold country with hot sun, than a hot country.


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## anapedrosa

I find newer homes with central heating (underfloor or radiators) much more comfortable, so it depends on the construction of your home.

Agree that heat pumps in the rooms don't seem provide the same level of comfort, the damp chill seems to stick to the walls and floors.


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