Early May 1 May
69°F
Typical afternoon high
16% historical wet-day frequency
Portugal · Beach
Madeira
in May.
Is May a good time?
Warm days.
A steady visitor season.
May averages 71°F afternoons and 68°F seas, with about 3 rain days. Later May is typically warmer.
- Afternoons
- 71°F
- Sea
- 68°F
- Visitor demand
- 87%of August peak
Historical Região Autónoma da Madeira regional averages, not a forecast or a measure of queues. Overnight demand compares average stays per day. Covers Funchal and Porto Santo; conditions vary within the region.
Overall match
7.7/10 · scores & prioritiesWhat matters most?
Weather 50% · Crowds 30% · Cost 20%
#6 of 12 months here · Balanced mix
Weather8.1/10Very good
CrowdsSteady all yearsimilar all year; overnight stays do not measure queuesFor its size, one of Europe's busiest this month
CostCheapfor Europe
Overall combines weather, overnight demand and cost. It does not include sea temperature.
Plan your May
What to expect.
What should I pack?
Afternoons around 71°F (22°C): T-shirt weather; nights around 56°F (13°C): a sweater and a light jacket. About 14 hours of daylight. About 3 rain days in a typical May.
Can I swim in May?
The sea averages 68°F. Our swimming guide: fresh: fine once you are in. Your comfort will vary. This is open water near the coast, not a beach-specific reading.
Monthly coastal averages from NOAA, 2011–2025. Sea temperature is separate from the weather and Overall scores.
A typical day: temperatures & daylightAfternoons, nights, sea temperature & daylight Show detailsHide details
About 14 hours of daylight.
The sun rises about 07:09 and sets about 20:58 (local time, mid-month). Mornings start around 56°F (13°C); afternoons reach about 71°F (22°C). Expect rain on about 3 days in a typical May.
Typical afternoon
71°F (22°C)
average daily high, 15 recent Mays
Night low
56°F (13°C)
average daily minimum
Sea
68°F (20°C)
fresh; open water near the coast, NOAA satellite record 2011–2025
Daylight
13h 49m
on the 15th, computed from latitude
Early, middle or late?
Early or late May?
Late May is typically warmer. The afternoon high averages 69°F on the 1st, versus 73°F on the 31st.
Mid May 15 May
71°F
Typical afternoon high
12% historical wet-day frequency
Late May 31 May
73°F
Typical afternoon high
13% historical wet-day frequency
Historical daily averages from 2011–2025, smoothed over two weeks. A seasonal pattern, not a forecast. This does not establish which week has the lowest prices or fewest visitors.
Public holidays · 2027: 1 May Labor Day; 27 May Corpus Christi.
Daily calendar & holiday datesMay 2027 · historical weather & dated holidays Show calendarHide calendar
May 2027 calendar
Weather shows historical patterns, not a forecast. Holidays and events use the dates shown for 2027.
| Mon | Tue | Wed | Thu | Fri | Sat | Sun |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 169° | 269° | |||||
| 370° | 470° | 570° | 670° | 770° | 871° | 971° |
| 1071° | 1171° | 1271° | 1371° | 1471° | 1571° | 1671° |
| 1771° | 1871° | 1971° | 2071° | 2171° | 2271° | 2371° |
| 2471° | 2572° | 2672° | 2772° | 2872° | 2972° | 3073° |
| 3173° |
Afternoon high rain likely (25%+) local school holidays public holiday event
Afternoons warm from about 70°F (21°C) in the first week to 72°F (22°C) in the last. The chance of a wet day runs 8–18%.
No school holidays here in May 2027. Public holidays: 1 May Labor Day; 27 May Corpus Christi. Elsewhere in May 2027, the share of people living where schools are out on a typical day: Germany 13%, Greece 29%. (School holidays: OpenHolidays, ODbL.)
Crowds and cost
Visitor season
Will it be busy?
Steady all year. May averages 87% of August's overnight stays per day. Overnight demand varies little across the year.
Overnight stays across Região Autónoma da Madeira do not measure queues, day visitors or congestion at individual sights. For its size, one of Europe's busiest this month.
Hotel price season
Will it be cheaper?
A little above usual. Historical regional hotel revenue (2024–2025 monthly average): €64 per guest-night. An average, not a booking quote.
Fewer overnight stays do not automatically mean cheaper rooms. Check actual quotes for your trip.
Historical hotel average
€64
2024–2025 monthly average; hotel revenue per guest-night; not a current booking quote. +5% vs this region's usual month.
Portugal as a whole
Well below EU average
2024 restaurants and hotels price level: 76 where the EU average is 100. A relative index, not a room rate.
The historical regional amount comes from INE Portugal, Inquérito à Permanência de Hóspedes: hotel room revenue per guest-night; the country price level is national. Hotel averages are not live booking quotes.
Year-to-year variation
How much does May vary?
Across the recorded years
In the 15 years from 2011 to 2025, the month's afternoons averaged between 68°F (20°C) and 74°F (23°C); in 12 of them they were within 3°F (1.5°C) of the typical 71°F (22°C). Rain days ranged from 0 to 11; half the years had 1–7.
Rain days in each May
Rain days
3
at least 1 mm, typical year; about 7 in a wet year
Mostly sunny days
5 of 31
cloud cover under 30%
Years with a 95°F+ day
0 of 15
no May in the last 15 years had a day at or above 95°F (35°C)
Good weather days
21 of 31
rated very good or better
See every recorded MayHistorical monthly averages, year by year Show detailsHide details
| Year | Afternoon high | Rain days |
|---|---|---|
| 2011 | 69°F | 11 |
| 2012 | 74°F | 2 |
| 2013 | 68°F | 7 |
| 2014 | 71°F | 1 |
| 2015 | 72°F | 0 |
| 2016 | 69°F | 7 |
| 2017 | 72°F | 4 |
| 2018 | 68°F | 2 |
| 2019 | 74°F | 0 |
| 2020 | 72°F | 5 |
| 2021 | 71°F | 2 |
| 2022 | 72°F | 3 |
| 2023 | 73°F | 6 |
| 2024 | 72°F | 1 |
| 2025 | 70°F | 7 |
Checked against official climate averages for Funchal (Observatorio). How we check
Compare dates
April, May
or June?
| Typical conditions | Apr | May | Jun |
|---|---|---|---|
| Afternoons | 68°F | 71°F | 75°F |
| Sea | 66°F | 68°F | 70°F |
| Rain days | 6 | 3 | 1 |
| Overnight demand | 83% | 87% | 90% |
April: Cooler afternoons and more rain days than May. April guide →
June: Warmer afternoons, warmer sea and fewer rain days than May. June guide →
Overnight demand measures accommodation stays, not queues. Sea temperatures are monthly coastal averages.
Compare any of the 12 monthsChoose another month and compare it with May Show comparisonHide comparison
Yellow marks the top three months on the Balanced mix. May stays as your reference.
Hotel stays vary little through the year. June to September have a Weather score at least 1.0 point higher than May.
Your comparison
May or April?
Overnight stays vary little through the year.
Historical regional hotel revenue (2024–2025 monthly average): €61 per guest-night. An average, not a booking quote.
Read the April guide →| Typical conditions | May | April |
|---|---|---|
| Afternoons | 71°F | 68°F |
| Nights | 56°F | 54°F |
| Sea | 68°F | 66°F |
| Rain days | 3 | 6 |
| Visitor season | Steady all year | Steady all year |
| Overall / 10 | 7.7 | 7.2 |
| Month rank | #6 | #8 |
Every month, in detail Show detailsHide details
| Month | Overall | Rank | High | Low | Sea | Rain days | Weather | Visitor season |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 6.8 | #11 | 64°F | 53°F | 67°F | 7 | 6.0 | Steady all year |
| February | 6.8 | #12 | 64°F | 52°F | 65°F | 6 | 6.0 | Steady all year |
| March | 6.9 | #9 | 66°F | 53°F | 65°F | 6 | 6.3 | Steady all year |
| April | 7.2 | #8 | 68°F | 54°F | 66°F | 6 | 7.0 | Steady all year |
| May | 7.7 | #6 | 71°F | 56°F | 68°F | 3 | 8.1 | Steady all year |
| June | 8.4 | #4 | 75°F | 59°F | 70°F | 1 | 9.4 | Steady all year |
| July | 8.6 | #1 | 79°F | 62°F | 72°F | 0 | 10.0 | Steady all year |
| August | 8.6 | #2 | 81°F | 64°F | 74°F | 1 | 10.0 | Steady all year |
| September | 8.5 | #3 | 78°F | 64°F | 75°F | 4 | 9.8 | Steady all year |
| October | 7.9 | #5 | 75°F | 62°F | 74°F | 9 | 8.4 | Steady all year |
| November | 7.3 | #7 | 69°F | 58°F | 71°F | 10 | 7.1 | Steady all year |
| December | 6.8 | #10 | 66°F | 55°F | 69°F | 9 | 6.4 | Steady all year |
Elsewhere in Europe
Better May weather than Madeira
Madeira's weather ranks 31 of 77 beach regions this month. These beach regions outside Portugal have clearly better weather on your dates, nearest first, each compared with Madeira.
Canary IslandsSpain · about 310 miles
Excellent weather (9.7): 3°F warmer afternoons, pricier
CeutaSpain · about 700 miles
Excellent weather (9.5): 2°F warmer afternoons
AndalusiaSpain · about 770 miles
Excellent weather (9.7): 9°F warmer afternoons, pricier
MelillaSpain · about 820 miles
Excellent weather (10.0): 10°F warmer afternoons
MurciaSpain · about 940 miles
Excellent weather (9.9): 9°F warmer afternoons, cheaper
How we knowSources, regional scope & scoring method Show detailsHide details
Hotel stays are steady all year here: this month is 87% of the busiest and about average. That counts overnight stays, not how busy the sights are. That means about 29,000 overnight visitors on a typical May night across the region, 15% of them from Portugal itself. Rentals booked through Airbnb, Booking, Expedia and Tripadvisor add up to 14,000 more: 50 for every 100 counted above. Some are the same properties counted twice.
| Climate suitability (HCI:Beach, 0–100) | 76 |
| How our weather was checked | Official climate averages for Funchal (Observatorio) from the national weather service, every month: afternoon highs typically within 2°F (1.2°C), night lows within 3°F (1.8°C). |
| Tourist nights per 1,000 residents per day | 111 |
| Busiest month here | August · 127 |
| Visitors as share of people present | 10.0% |
| Rank among Europe's regions this month | 97th percentile |
| Domestic share of nights | 15% |
| Platform rental nights per 100 counted nights | 50 |
| Visitor share if every platform night were extra | 14.2% |
| Population used | 259,000 |
| Statistical region | PT30 · Região Autónoma da Madeira |
Crowds: Eurostat nights spent at tourist accommodation, by month and NUTS 2 region, 2024–2025 average. Overnight visitors per night is the month's nights divided by its days; the per-1,000 figure is Eurostat's, against each year's population. Platform rentals: Eurostat nights booked via Airbnb, Booking, Expedia and Tripadvisor, 2024–2025 average, shown separately because some properties are in both counts. Weather: Holiday Climate Index computed from ERA5 reanalysis with daily highs, night lows and rain days corrected from open national weather-service station records, 2011–2025, population-weighted to the region; day-by-day figures are the same data averaged by date. Heat and rain odds are counted across those years. Sunrise and sunset: NOAA solar equations, local time. Prices: Eurostat price level index and HICP, national; the first figure is regional (INE Portugal, Inquérito à Permanência de Hóspedes: hotel room revenue per guest-night). Full method · this region's data.