Ukkram

Flew from Porto to the UK yesterday. Northern PT had patchy snow while Spain was almost totally covered with snow from the PT border to the Bay of Biscay. Almost nothing over the UK.

ricko

From what you both say, snow in the north and 1 degree in the Alentejo, it sounds as though your winter is worse than in the UK.
This has given me a big surprise.
Is this the case for all of Portugal except the Algarve?

EMR

Worse than the UK ?

Where do you live.

Last Sunday, snow and below freezing, roads blocked in the South West in mid March.
Anywhere on the coast or close to it will be much better than the UK.

ricko

This would suggest to me, renting a place in central Portugal to give access to more of the country whilst searching.
What would be the usual rental period for an apartment in a medium sized town (six months, one year, or something different to this) ?

ouriquejan

We're having a long cold and rather windy winter this year. It's normal to go down to more than that further up north. And yes, they get the snow too.

I think you need to do a little more research about the weather, climate and micro climates here before you decide where you want to be.

However, last year, we were sitting outside, this time of yer in shorts and t-shirts during the day.

The nights are colder here than the Algarve, but the days can and are hotter in the summer.

ricko

I live in the SW of the UK.
There has been snow twice where I live, but on each occasion it disappeared very quickly.
There was only one day that it affected traffic through the town.
In all, I think we've probably had about a dozen nights, in the winter, close to or below freezing point.
Overall, I think it's been a mild winter for my area.
At the present, it's about 10 degrees C, much better than the 1 degree in Alentejo.
I've read a couple of guides that had a few pages about climate.
That gave me the impression that there were cold winters only in the far NorthEast.
So I thoroughly agree that I need to do more researh.
Do you know a good starting point for this?

EMR

Forums like this with comments from those who live in Portugal rather than charts.
The UK again has temps as low as -10 Forecast for Easter with more snow.
The Algarve a cool for us 15,16degrees , normally up to 20.

ouriquejan

The 1C remark was for the dead of night, not normal during the day. Although the wind is blowing a hooley today and making it feel cold.

We've used almost 2 ton of wood this year - unusual.

Mostly, it's cold at night, think about 8C, then hotting up to 20C during the day. Today, we only got to 14C, because of the wind. But it dried the clothes!

Where to look? Just ask on here, we've got people from most areas of Portugal.

There cannot be an average summer/spring/winter guide, as it's different every year.

My Portuguese friends say that this part of the Alentejo will have 7 year cycles of wet winters or dry winters. We've got 3 more years to go.

Although in saying that, 9, I think, years ago, it rained in the East Algarve every day from 22 December until 22 March. And not just a little rain - a lot!

EMR

We were there that winter. .
There was a huge brown slick in the sea as the rivers that exit at Portimao stayed at flood levels for weeks.
Yet only a year or so before drought levels were worse than last year.
Nature seems to have its own way of balancing things out.

Ozpretender

There doesn’t seem to be much focus on the larger and more well known cities.
From what I have read they are very nice places, Oporto and Lisbon.
Do most here choose the smaller areas due to the lower living costs or is it because they actually prefer those areas?

ouriquejan

We lived in Fuzeta for 10 years, owning for 12. Near Olhao, Faro and Tavira, so lots of things to see do.

But decided that the quieter and less touristy - and cheaper - Alentejo was better for us now.

We also wanted a single storey home and couldn't afford the prices in the Algarve.

ricko

Would that be due to the warming effect of the sea in the winter, or more because of an increase in altitude away from the coast?


Would places like Braga and Guimaraes have milder winters than the UK?

Moses2013

One of my work colleagues here in Ireland is from Braga originally and enjoys the dry winters we have in Ireland. Certainly mild there, but a very wet city from October up to May, you could say. Good thing is that rain keeps the scum away. Summer is summer of course.

Loafing Along

Porto has a very UK style climate. This time of year still very wet and definitely cold at night . Obviously milder as coastal but that brings the wind, not so pleasant. Lovely city but will be difficult to find any long term rental.
We prefer the Algarve although a noticeable gulf in standard , and cost, of living to places such as Porto and Lisbon.

Ozpretender

Ya I wouldn’t be interested if the climate was like that.
I thought it would be a much more sun friendly climate year round throughout Portugal so I’m surprised and glad to have found this out.

Is Algarve much warmer location than Porto?
How do you mean noticeable gulf in standard of living?