When you arrive in Madeira, take a good look around. The pleasant soothing colours invade the senses with the different shades of green set against an azure sea – the hallmark of the subtropics. But they also tell of rain. This is not to say that it rains all the time or most of the time. But it does rain sometimes.
Now that the shock has been administered lets start again. Most people who live here find that Madeira has just about the most perfect climate in the world. It is never too hot (temperatures can get up to around 33 °C when the ‘Leste’ - east wind coming from the Sahara desert - blows for a few days every year) averaging a maximum of 24 °C during the summer months (July through to October) and a minimum of 17 °C. During the winter average temperatures drop by approximately 4 °C.
The island is full of small microclimates. The bay of Funchal, protected by the highest peaks, enjoys the best of sunshine. Further down the west coast at Ponta do Sol and Calheta, backed by the lower hills of the Paúl da Serra, the sun shines brighter during these months, but they are less protected from the sea winds.
The prevailing wind is the North Easterly Trade that gathers off the Portuguese coast and runs down to the Cape Verde Islands. It brings moisture and large sea swells to the north coast, and often, particularly in the morning, adversely affects the weather on the eastern end of the island between Caniço and Caniçal. However in a westerly wind these areas can be surprisingly dry and sunny whereas the south and west coasts are duly soaked.
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