- Marbella's own normals (AEMET via the WMO, 1981–2010) give 27.3°C August afternoons and 9.4°C January nights, milder at both ends than Málaga airport
- Rain totals about 646 mm a year on some 56 days; December is the wettest month (132 mm) and July almost dry
- AEMET counts about 2,975 hours of sunshine and 114 completely clear days a year at the airport; only 41 days are overcast
- The sea peaks at about 23.4°C in August and bottoms out at 15.6°C in February and March
- Strong-wind days cluster from November to April; the easterly Levante is most common from May to October
Climate tables for Marbella usually quote Málaga airport, 40 km east, and they make the town sound hotter in summer and colder on winter nights than it is. Marbella has its own normals: AEMET's 1981–2010 figures for the town, published by the World Meteorological Organization, put August afternoons at 27.3°C, against 30.8°C at the airport over the same years. We read both before any outdoor plan at our agency, from a terrace dinner to a boat afternoon with an escort in Marbella. Marbella averages 16.4°C by day in January and 27.3°C in August, with 646 mm of rain on about 56 days a year and almost none from June to August; the nearest AEMET station logs about 2,975 hours of sun, and the sea runs from 15.6°C in late winter to 23.4°C in August.
Below: the figures month by month, then heat, cold, rain, sun, sea and wind.
Marbella's Weather Month by Month
Marbella's afternoons average 16.4°C in January and 27.3°C in August, with nights from 9.4°C to 20.6°C. Almost 90% of the 646 mm of annual rain falls between October and April, and the sea runs from 15.6°C in late winter to 23.4°C in August. The table has every month.
Temperature, Rain, Sun and Sea by Month
| Month | Average high | Average low | Rain | Rain days | Sunshine* | Sea |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 16.4°C | 9.4°C | 89 mm | 7.3 | 183 h | 16.1°C |
| February | 16.9°C | 10.0°C | 76 mm | 6.7 | 189 h | 15.6°C |
| March | 18.4°C | 11.6°C | 57 mm | 5.7 | 223 h | 15.6°C |
| April | 19.8°C | 12.9°C | 51 mm | 6.2 | 249 h | 16.8°C |
| May | 22.2°C | 15.1°C | 25 mm | 4.4 | 301 h | 18.4°C |
| June | 24.8°C | 18.2°C | 6 mm | 0.9 | 336 h | 20.9°C |
| July | 26.9°C | 20.3°C | 1 mm | 0.4 | 353 h | 22.8°C |
| August | 27.3°C | 20.6°C | 6 mm | 0.4 | 322 h | 23.4°C |
| September | 25.5°C | 18.9°C | 30 mm | 2.7 | 261 h | 21.8°C |
| October | 22.6°C | 16.2°C | 65 mm | 5.7 | 220 h | 20.4°C |
| November | 19.5°C | 12.9°C | 109 mm | 7.0 | 177 h | 18.2°C |
| December | 17.3°C | 10.7°C | 132 mm | 8.8 | 161 h | 16.6°C |
| Year | 21.5°C | 14.7°C | 646 mm | 56 | 2,975 h | 18.9°C |
Temperatures and rain: Marbella, 1981–2010. *Sunshine: Málaga airport, 1991–2020. Sea: monthly satellite averages.
Where the Figures Come From
Temperatures and rain are the 1981–2010 normals that AEMET, Spain's weather agency, supplied to the World Meteorological Organization for Marbella. AEMET publishes full normals, sunshine included, only for its principal stations; the nearest is Málaga airport (station 6155A, 7 m above sea level), whose 1991–2020 figures fill the sunshine column. Its public table still shows 1981–2010, with an annual mean of 18.5°C; the 1991–2020 period gives 18.9°C. Sea temperatures are satellite averages from seatemperature.org, built on NOAA data.
Why Is Marbella Milder Than Málaga Airport?
Over the same 1981–2010 years, Marbella's August afternoons averaged 27.3°C against 30.8°C at the airport, and its January nights 9.4°C against 7.4°C. The town sits under the Sierra Blanca, which shelters it to the north, and it is wetter: 646 mm a year against 534 mm.
Two Stations, the Same Thirty Years
| 1981–2010 normal | Marbella | Málaga airport |
|---|---|---|
| January high / low | 16.4 / 9.4°C | 16.8 / 7.4°C |
| August high / low | 27.3 / 20.6°C | 30.8 / 21.1°C |
| Rain a year | 646 mm | 534 mm |
| Rain days a year | 56 | 42 |
| December rain | 132 mm | 100 mm |
Both columns are AEMET normals for the same thirty years. The airport's newer 1991–2020 set runs warmer again, with an August high of 31.5°C and an annual mean of 18.9°C; the WMO still lists 1981–2010 for Marbella. Our best-time guide turns these figures into a verdict for each month.
What the Difference Means in Practice
Climate tables that quote the airport therefore overstate a Marbella August afternoon by about 3.5°C on average and understate a January night by 2°C; for day-to-day plans, use AEMET's forecast for Marbella itself. Winter afternoons are almost identical, at 16.4°C and 16.8°C. The extra rain falls in the same months as at the airport, with December bringing 132 mm in Marbella against 100 mm. The peaks behind the town, La Concha at 1,270 m and Lastonar at 1,275 m, are occasionally white in winter, as they were after Storm Filomena in January 2021.
Summer: Warm Nights and the Occasional 40°C Day
July and August average 26.9°C and 27.3°C by day in Marbella, with nights above 20°C. Heat spikes do happen: at Málaga airport the hottest day of an average year reaches 40.1°C, and the highest reading AEMET had logged there by 2025 was 44.2°C, on 19 July 2023.
Days Above 30°C and Warm Nights
AEMET's 1991–2020 normals count 57 days a year at 30°C or more at the airport: about 9 in June, 17 in July, 20 in August and 7 or 8 in September. Marbella's cooler normals point to fewer in the town, though no count is published for it. Nights are the other measure: Marbella's July and August lows average 20.3°C and 20.6°C, so a terrace at midnight stays warm. Relative humidity at the airport averages 57 to 59% in those months.
Records at the Airport
Up to 2025, AEMET's extremes for Málaga airport, kept since 1942, included 44.2°C on 19 July 2023, 44.0°C on 9 August 1953 and 41.0°C on 12 June 1983. The same year set the April record, 34.3°C on the 29th, and July 2023 became the hottest month on record, averaging 29.5°C day and night. May's record, 35.6°C, dates from 16 May 2021, and even September has reached 40.0°C, in 1955. These are airport readings; Marbella's own normals run three degrees cooler on an August afternoon.
Winter: Mild Days, Cool Nights and Almost No Frost
From December to February Marbella's afternoons average 16.4°C to 17.3°C and its nights 9.4°C to 10.7°C. Frost is almost unknown on the coast: the airport averages 0.1 frost days a year. Warm spells happen too; AEMET logged 29.4°C at the airport on 12 December 2023.
Daytime, Night-Time and Indoors
January is the coldest month, at 16.4°C by day and 9.4°C by night in Marbella. The gap shows after sunset, which comes at 18:08 on the shortest day: a terrace that was warm at lunch needs a heater by eight. Many coastal flats are built to stay cool rather than warm, so ask whether a winter rental has heating before you book it. Our winter guide covers what the season is like on the ground.
The Coldest and Warmest Winter Readings
The airport's lowest reading since 1942 is −3.8°C, on 4 February 1954, and its coldest night of an average year is 1.8°C. At the other end, February has touched 30.0°C, in 1961, and December 29.4°C, in 2023. In an average year the warmest January day reaches 22.0°C at the airport. The coldest month on record, February 1956, averaged 8.9°C. Sea temperatures fall to their lowest, about 15.6°C, in February and March.
Rain: When It Falls and How Hard
Marbella's normals give 646 mm a year on about 56 rain days. December is the wettest month, with 132 mm on 8.8 days, and July the driest, with 1.1 mm. June, July and August together average 12.5 mm, while almost 90% of the year's rain falls between October and April.
The Wet Months and the Dry Ones
From November to January Marbella averages 89 to 132 mm a month on seven to nine rain days; September, at 30 mm on under three days, is when the first storms return. Rain tends to arrive in heavy bursts rather than drizzle: at the airport, 15.6 days a year bring 10 mm or more, over a third of all rain days. Spring rain is lighter, about 51 mm in April and 25 mm in May.
Thunderstorms and Autumn Downpours
AEMET counts about 12 thunderstorm days a year at the airport, roughly one a month except in high summer. In autumn, slow-moving cut-off lows, which Spanish forecasters call DANAs, can bring torrential rain, and AEMET issues yellow, orange or red warnings by area when they do. An orange warning on a booking day is our cue to move outdoor plans indoors; a yellow one usually means an umbrella and a later start.
How Much Sunshine Does Marbella Get?
About 2,975 hours a year on AEMET's 1991–2020 measure at Málaga airport, from 161 hours in December to 353 in July, or 66% of the possible daylight. Completely clear days number 114 a year; most of the rest are partly cloudy, and only 41 are overcast.
Hours of Sun and Hours of Daylight
July averages 11.4 hours of sun a day and December 5.2. Daylight runs from 9 hours 40 minutes at the winter solstice, with sunset at 18:08, to 14 hours 40 minutes in late June, with sunset at about 21:41 on summer time. Clocks go back on the last Sunday of October, 25 October in 2026, which moves sunset from about 19:30 to 18:30 overnight and shortens every evening plan by an hour.
What “300 Days of Sunshine” Really Means
The claim is loose rather than false. AEMET classes each day by cloud: in an average year at the airport, 114 are clear, about 210 partly cloudy and 41 overcast, and 41.5 bring 1 mm of rain or more. A day with some sun comes around 320 times a year; a cloudless one about one day in three. The split moves with the seasons: July averages 21.6 clear days, December 5.7.
Sea Temperature Month by Month
Satellite averages put Marbella's sea at 15.6°C in February and March, the coldest months, rising to 20.9°C in June, 22.8°C in July and a peak of about 23.4°C in August, then falling to 21.8°C in September and 20.4°C in October.
Averages and Ranges
The monthly averages hide a spread: August runs from 21.8°C to 25.0°C, June from 18.7°C to 23.2°C, the widest of any month, and February from 14.5°C to 16.7°C. Sea and air both peak in August, but the water cools more slowly: October's sea, at 20.4°C, is close to June's, while October afternoons are about 2°C cooler than June's. On 4 October 2026 the satellite reading was 20.4°C, 0.6°C above the early-October average. Our beach season guide has the lifeguard dates.
Why the Water Is Cooler Than Ibiza's
In August the same satellite averages give 26.2°C for Ibiza and 24.8°C for Mykonos, against 23.4°C here. The reason is the Strait of Gibraltar, about 80 km west: surface water flows in from the Atlantic and spreads east through the Alborán Sea, so this corner of the Mediterranean runs cooler than the Balearics. Saint-Tropez averages 23.3°C in August, level with Marbella. Our summer comparison sets Marbella against Ibiza, Mykonos and Saint-Tropez.
Wind, Weather and Outdoor Bookings
On the water, wind matters more than rain. The airport averages 38.8 days a year with gusts of 55 km/h or more, mostly from November to April, while the easterly Levante, which raises a heavy swell, is most common from May to October.
Levante, Poniente and Boat Days
The Levante blows from the east and strengthens towards the Strait of Gibraltar; the Poniente comes in from the Atlantic to the west. Skippers decide whether a boat goes out, and when one cancels for weather we do not charge for the companion; otherwise a yacht day can be changed free of charge until 72 hours before, as our cancellation guide sets out. Our water sports calendar covers conditions by activity.
Planning a Booking Around the Forecast
We check AEMET's forecast for Marbella before every outdoor booking. From November to March we hold an indoor table as a fallback for a terrace dinner date; in July and August we push outdoor plans past 20:00, when the heat eases. A boat afternoon suits May to October, and a yacht booking is charged at the companion's hourly rate of €300, with the boat and the food paid separately. Storms and flight delays are never charged when they cancel a booking.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the hottest month in Marbella?
August. Marbella's 1981–2010 normals give an average high of 27.3°C and a low of 20.6°C, while Málaga airport, the reference most forecasts quote, averages 31.5°C by day over 1991–2020. The sea is warmest in August too, at about 23.4°C on average.
How cold does Marbella get in winter?
Not very. January, the coldest month, averages 16.4°C by day and 9.4°C at night in Marbella. Frost is almost unknown on the coast, at 0.1 days a year at the airport, whose record low is −3.8°C from February 1954. Snow occasionally dusts the Sierra Blanca peaks above the town.
When does it rain most in Marbella?
From November to January. December is the wettest month, with 132 mm on about 8.8 days, and November brings 109 mm. The year totals about 646 mm on 56 days, and almost none of it falls from June to August: July averages 1.1 mm. Rain usually comes in heavy bursts rather than drizzle.
When is the sea warmest in Marbella?
In August, at about 23.4°C on average, ranging from 21.8°C to 25.0°C. September follows at 21.8°C, July at 22.8°C and June at 20.9°C. The coldest water is in February and March, at about 15.6°C; monthly averages stay above 20°C from June to October.
Does Marbella really get 300 days of sunshine?
Roughly, if a day with some sun counts. AEMET's airport normals give 114 clear days, about 210 partly cloudy and 41 overcast a year, with about 2,975 hours of sunshine in all. Completely cloudless days come about one day in three; overcast ones are rare from June to August.
Planning Around the Forecast?
Tell us the date, the plan and whether it is outdoors. We will check AEMET's forecast with you and suggest a fallback, an indoor table or a later start, before anything is booked.
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