Madrid sits on a high plateau (around 650m elevation), which gives it one of Europe's most extreme climates for a capital city — properly hot summers, properly cold winters.
| Winter (Dec–Feb) | Daytime highs around 9–13°C; nights regularly drop below freezing. |
|---|---|
| Spring (Mar–May) | Highs climbing from 16°C to 24°C; the most changeable season — layers help. |
| Summer (Jun–Aug) | Highs of 30–35°C are normal in July/August, with low humidity — it's a dry heat, but intense. |
| Autumn (Sep–Nov) | Warm start, cooling steadily; a genuinely pleasant season to visit. |
Because humidity is low, Madrid's summer heat feels different from coastal Spain — more bearable in the shade, harsher in direct sun. Locals structure the day around it: an early start, an indoor or shaded midafternoon, then evenings that stretch late into terraces and parks.
Madrid isn't a rainy city — it gets meaningfully less annual rainfall than London, Paris or even Barcelona — but when rain does come, it's usually concentrated in short spells in spring and autumn rather than long grey stretches.