Cartagena climate

Name: Cartagena
Address: ES

Cartagena is warmest in August, with average highs of 29 °C, and coldest in January, when nights average 9.5 °C. September is the wettest month (38 mm) and July the driest (2.2 mm). Figures are 1991–2020 climate normals.

Across a full year Cartagena averages 269 mm of rain and 108 days above 25 °C.

Spain · population 213,943 · 1991–2020 normals

Temperature below 0 °C to above 30 °C Rain band height is that month’s share of the wettest month

Warmest month August 29 °C
Coldest month January 9.5 °C
Driest month July 2 mm
Wettest month September 38 mm
Least cloud July 15 % cloud
Hottest on record August 36 °C
Coldest on record January 2.2 °C
Warmest sea August 26 °C

What to expectCartagena through the year

Cartagena has a clear annual cycle: average daily highs run from 15 °C in January to 29 °C in August, a swing of 14 °C in mean temperature across the year.

Counted across a normal year, 108 days a year reach 25 °C, 10 of them reach 30 °C. The warmest reading in the 1991–2020 record is 36 °C, in August.

Rain is spread fairly evenly through the year, from 2 mm in July to 38 mm in September. There is no dry season to aim for.

The sea off Cartagena is warmest in August at 26 °C and coldest in February at 15 °C. Sea temperature lags the air by a month or two, which is why late summer swims warmer than early summer at the same air temperature.

Month by month

Month	Avg high	Rainfall	Cloud
January	15.1 °C	28 mm	40 %
February	15.7 °C	21 mm	40 %
March	17.2 °C	29 mm	41 %
April	19.1 °C	26 mm	42 %
May	21.9 °C	20 mm	39 %
June	25.5 °C	7 mm	25 %
July	28.1 °C	2 mm	15 %
August	28.9 °C	7 mm	23 %
September	26.3 °C	38 mm	38 %
October	22.8 °C	33 mm	43 %
November	18.7 °C	32 mm	43 %
December	16.0 °C	25 mm	43 %

Temperature month by month

Month	Avg high	Avg low	Mean	Record high	Record low	Days above 25 °C	Days above 30 °C
January	15.1 °C	9.5 °C	12.3 °C	21.6 °C	2.2 °C	0	0
February	15.7 °C	9.9 °C	12.7 °C	23.6 °C	3.3 °C	0	0
March	17.2 °C	11.2 °C	14.2 °C	26.7 °C	3.9 °C	0	0
April	19.1 °C	13.2 °C	16.1 °C	27.8 °C	7.5 °C	0	0
May	21.9 °C	15.9 °C	19.0 °C	30.7 °C	8.9 °C	2	0
June	25.5 °C	19.5 °C	22.6 °C	33.1 °C	14.0 °C	18	0
July	28.1 °C	22.2 °C	25.2 °C	33.8 °C	17.0 °C	30	3
August	28.9 °C	23.2 °C	26.0 °C	35.8 °C	18.9 °C	31	6
September	26.3 °C	21.0 °C	23.6 °C	32.8 °C	15.0 °C	23	1
October	22.8 °C	17.5 °C	20.1 °C	29.7 °C	9.4 °C	5	0
November	18.7 °C	13.4 °C	16.0 °C	26.9 °C	6.3 °C	0	0
December	16.0 °C	10.7 °C	13.3 °C	23.6 °C	4.0 °C	0	0

Rain, sun and wind month by month

Month	Rainfall	Wet days	Daylight	Cloud cover	Humidity	Wind	Sea temp
January	28 mm	4	9.9 h/day	40 %	71 %	17 km/h	15.0 °C
February	21 mm	4	11 h/day	40 %	70 %	19 km/h	14.6 °C
March	29 mm	4	12 h/day	41 %	70 %	21 km/h	15.0 °C
April	26 mm	4	13 h/day	42 %	69 %	21 km/h	16.2 °C
May	20 mm	3	14 h/day	39 %	70 %	20 km/h	18.3 °C
June	7 mm	1	15 h/day	25 %	70 %	20 km/h	21.2 °C
July	2 mm	0	15 h/day	15 %	72 %	19 km/h	24.1 °C
August	7 mm	1	14 h/day	23 %	73 %	18 km/h	25.7 °C
September	38 mm	4	12 h/day	38 %	73 %	18 km/h	24.3 °C
October	33 mm	4	11 h/day	43 %	74 %	17 km/h	21.7 °C
November	32 mm	5	10 h/day	43 %	70 %	18 km/h	18.7 °C
December	25 mm	4	9.6 h/day	43 %	72 %	17 km/h	16.4 °C

How Cartagena compares

The same four figures for nearby destinations, so the numbers above have something to be read against. Summer high is the warmest month's average high; winter low is the coldest month's average low.

Destination	Summer high	Winter low	Rain per year	Days above 25 °C
Cartagena	29 °C	9.5 °C	269 mm	108
Murcia · Spain	33 °C	5.2 °C	305 mm	163
Elche · Spain	31 °C	6.5 °C	283 mm	142
Alicante · Spain	30 °C	7.9 °C	384 mm	122
Almería · Spain	32 °C	7.7 °C	213 mm	149
Albacete · Spain	33 °C	1.2 °C	360 mm	119

Where Cartagena ranks

Ranking	Position	Value
Best beach destinations in Europe in August	3rd of 50	99/100
Best beach destinations in Europe in July	3rd of 50	99/100
Best beach destinations in Europe in September	3rd of 50	97/100
Places with the best weather in Europe in January	3rd of 50	78/100
Places with the best weather in Europe in December	4th of 50	82/100
Places with the best weather in Europe in November	4th of 50	91/100

Planning a trip? See the best time to visit Cartagena.

QuestionsCommon questions about Cartagena’s climate

When is the best time to visit Cartagena?

That depends on what you want, so the honest answer is a comparison rather than a single month. May, June, October sit closest to 20 °C on average, August is the warmest month and July the driest. The month-by-month table above has the full picture.

How hot does Cartagena get?

In August, the warmest month, daily highs average 29 °C. About 10 days a year pass 30 °C. The highest value in the 1991–2020 record is 36 °C.

How cold does it get in winter?

Nights average 9.5 °C in January, the coldest month. Freezing nights are not part of a normal year here.

Which month is wettest in Cartagena?

September, averaging 38 mm over 4 days with rain. The driest month is July with 2 mm. The year as a whole averages 269 mm.

Are these figures a forecast?

No. They are 1991–2020 climate normals: the average of thirty years, which describes what a month is usually like in Cartagena rather than what any particular week will bring. Individual years can differ substantially from the normal.

Data sources and method

ERA5 / ERA5-Land reanalysis — Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S), ECMWF. Copernicus Licence
Open-Meteo — Open-Meteo.com. CC BY 4.0
NOAA OISST v2.1 — NOAA Physical Sciences Laboratory. Public domain
GeoNames — GeoNames.org. CC BY 4.0

Normal period: 1991–2020
Data point: 37.602°, -0.984° (the coordinates the reanalysis values are taken for)
Dataset version: era5-1991-2020-scores1.1
Last processed: 1 August 2026

Measured values come from ERA5 reanalysis and are reproduced unchanged. Calculated by us: monthly rankings, daylight hours, beach and comfort scores. Full formulas are on the methodology page.

Contains modified Copernicus Climate Change Service information 2026. Neither the European Commission nor ECMWF is responsible for any use that may be made of the Copernicus information or data it contains.