Weather in Funchal in January

A good month. January works. It is not the peak, but nothing about it fights you. Highs average 16.5 °C, lows 14.7 °C, and rain falls on 7 days — nothing in the month is working against you.

January ranks 9 of 12 in Funchal: past the worst of the year but short of July, which is the month to book if the dates are open.

Rain on 7 days, 1 of them heavy. Enough to need a plan B, not enough to need a plan around it. Pack for 16.5 °C days and 14.7 °C nights; the spread matters more here than any single number.

What the averages hide

Averages flatten a month, and this one hides a few things: the day barely swings — 1.8 °C between the overnight low and the afternoon high. Across the twenty years measured, the hottest January day reached 19.4 °C and the coldest night fell to 12 °C, and the wettest single day dropped 43 mm — roughly 116% of the month's rain in one day.

This is the volatile part. January rainfall has ranged from 5 mm to 166 mm across the twenty years measured — a 161 mm spread around an average of 37 mm. The average is real but almost no individual January looks like it, so treat the figure as the middle of a wide range rather than a forecast.

Wind sits around 17.3 km/h — a steady breeze rather than a nuisance, and welcome on the warmer days, and humidity runs at 78%, high enough to notice on the warm days without dominating them.

How January sits in the year

Temperatures hold steady either side: 17.5 °C in December, 16.5 here, 16.1 in February. Nothing about the timing within the month matters much.

Daylight in January

January sits at the dark end of Funchal's year — 10.2 hours of daylight against 14.3 at midsummer, gaining 0.5 hours across the month. Sightseeing days are genuinely shorter, and an itinerary built for summer will not fit.

Sea temperature

The sea sits at about 19.1 °C in January — swimmable, but it takes a moment to commit. The sea peaks at 23.9 °C in September and bottoms out at 18.2 °C — water lags the air by a month or two, which is why the best swimming often comes after the best weather.

How busy it gets

Off season. The genuine off season: cheapest by a distance, with the caveat that some tours and restaurants close entirely.

Crowd levels are estimated from climate desirability and school-holiday calendars, not from visitor numbers.

January in Funchal versus nearby

If Funchal is one option among several, the nearby comparison is worth making. Las Palmas de Gran Canaria is a better bet in January — 2.4 °C warmer, 3 days less rain. Agadir is a better bet in January — 6.1 °C warmer, 4 days less rain.

So: January is a compromise. July is 22 points better and is what Funchal is actually like at its best — worth moving the trip for if that is possible, and worth adjusting expectations for if it is not.

Every month in Funchal

See all twelve months in Funchal, or where else to go in January.