Madrid in December
In December, Madrid has 42.4 mm (1.67 in) of rain, a daily high of 10.4 °C (50.7 °F) and a daily low of 3.7 °C (38.7 °F), as 1991-2020 means; figures in brackets are converted.
Last updated : what the month is like; shorter source notes.
Best time to visit Madrid: December misses our rule: days are 5.6 °C under our 16 °C and nights are 4.3 °C under our 8 °C. Expect 5.9 rain days, 3.2 nights below 0 °C and days that shorten by 10 min.
What December is like in Madrid
- In mid-December, folk players parade from the Plaza de la Villa to the Plaza de Oriente. Their zambombas thunder as they go. Source: esMadrid (Madrid City Council tourism), checked .
- On the morning of 22 December, the children of San Ildefonso sing out the numbers of the Christmas draw on the stage of the Teatro Real. Source: esMadrid (Madrid City Council tourism), checked .
- On 31 December, runners in fancy dress race the San Silvestre Vallecana across Madrid. Much of the course runs gently downhill. Source: esMadrid (Madrid City Council tourism), checked .
Key figures
Weather in December, 1991-2020 means
- Daily high
- 10.4 °C (50.7 °F)
- Daily low
- 3.7 °C (38.7 °F)
- Rain
- 42.4 mm (1.67 in) in the month
- Sunshine
- no data
Climate normals 1991-2020, computed by AEMET and submitted to the World Meteorological Organization. Checked .
Station: Madrid Retiro, 2.2 km from the city centre point.
How we define and convert these figures
Notes. Sunshine: the source file has no row for this measure.
Daylight on 15 December 2026
- Sunrise
- 08:31 local time
- Sunset
- 17:49 local time
- Day length
- 9 h 18 min
Day length 1-31 December: 9 h 30 min to 9 h 20 min, -10 min.
Source: NOAA Solar Calculator equations, checked .
Month by month
Each month: daily high in °C, then rain in mm, 1991-2020 means.
WMO climate normals 1991-2020, as above, checked .
This month against the year
| Measure | December | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| Daily high | 10.4 °C | 2nd coldest |
| Daily low | 3.7 °C | equal 2nd coldest |
| Rain | 42.4 mm | 5th wettest |
| Sunshine | no data | no data |
| Day length | 9 h 18 min | shortest |
Equal values share a rank. How we rank months
Madrid in December, on average: 5.9 rain days (1 mm or more), 3.2 frost days (low below 0 °C), 0.0 hot days (high 30 °C or more).
WMO climate normals 1991-2020, as above, checked .
Day length: NOAA solar equations, checked .
Public holidays this month
| Date | Holiday |
|---|---|
| Monday | Monday following Constitution Day |
| Tuesday | Immaculate Conception |
| Friday | Christmas Day |
| Date | Holiday |
|---|---|
| Monday | Constitution Day |
| Wednesday | Immaculate Conception |
| Saturday | Christmas Day |
Typed from the official list and re-checked, .
English names are from the holidays library where the official list gives none. How we check holidays
Source: Official public holiday list (datos.madrid.es), checked ; holidays Python library, checked . Library: holidays 0.105.
Same month in 20 cities
Madrid is warmer than 9 of our 20 cities in December by mean daily high. How we rank cities
Closest high and low in December: London (0.8 °C apart), Tokyo (0.9), Hiroshima (1.0).
| City | Gap from Madrid, °C | High, °C | Low, °C | Rain, mm | Sunshine, hours |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Madrid (this page) | — | 10.4 | 3.7 | 42.4 | no data |
| London (closest) | 0.8 | 9.0 | 3.9 | 58.6 | no data |
| Tokyo (closest) | 0.9 | 12.0 | 3.8 | 57.9 | 174.4 |
| Hiroshima (closest) | 1.0 | 12.1 | 4.0 | 54.0 | 140.6 |
| Paris | 1.3 | 8.0 | 3.8 | 62.0 | 56.0 |
| Rome | 1.7 | 12.7 | 4.7 | no data | no data |
| Osaka | 1.8 | 12.3 | 5.3 | 55.5 | 152.1 |
| Amsterdam | 2.7 | 6.9 | 1.9 | 81.7 | 58.2 |
| New York | 3.2 | 6.8 | 1.0 | 111.3 | no data |
| Barcelona | 3.8 | 14.7 | 6.9 | 37.7 | 104.5 |
| Berlin | 4.9 | 4.4 | -0.1 | 44.2 | 41.3 |
| Munich | 5.1 | 4.8 | -0.8 | 58.5 | 66.4 |
| Seville | 5.1 | 16.8 | 7.4 | 77.2 | 185.9 |
| Vienna | 5.3 | 4.0 | -0.4 | 46.8 | 57.1 |
| Prague | 5.9 | 3.5 | -1.2 | 28.1 | 43.8 |
| Los Angeles | 7.3 | 19.7 | 9.0 | 63.0 | no data |
| Chicago | 7.9 | 2.6 | -4.2 | 53.6 | no data |
| Hong Kong | 11.3 | 20.4 | 16.2 | 28.8 | 161.6 |
| Buenos Aires | 16.7 | 29.0 | 18.5 | 122.8 | 267.4 |
| Singapore | 20.4 | 30.5 | 24.3 | 331.9 | no data |
Sources (1991-2020): WMO climate normals and NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, checked , ; Hong Kong: our 1991-2020 mean of the Hong Kong Observatory daily climate series on DATA.GOV.HK; Singapore: our 1991-2020 mean of the National Environment Agency monthly climate series on data.gov.sg; both checked . Each city's page names its station. All sources in full on Methodology.
Hong Kong figures: The Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region and the Hong Kong Observatory own the intellectual property rights in the data; attribution to them and DATA.GOV.HK. Licence: Terms and Conditions of Use of DATA.GOV.HK, version 1.2.
Singapore figures: Contains information from the National Environment Agency on data.gov.sg, made available under the terms of the Singapore Open Data Licence version 1.0 (https://data.gov.sg/open-data-licence). The Agency does not endorse our means.
Sources
- WMO Member Nations (each national weather service's own submission); archived by NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information. Attribution: WMO Member Nations (2023). WMO Climatological Standard Normals for 1991-2020 (NCEI Accession 0253808). Station files named in each record. NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information. Dataset. https://doi.org/10.25921/800j-vn07. Accessed on the check date shown. Licence: No licence stated. Published by NOAA NCEI for WMO; citation requested. Checked .
- NOAA Solar Calculator equations, computed locally, NOAA Global Monitoring Laboratory (method); City by Month (computation). Attribution: Computed with the NOAA Solar Calculator method (no NOAA endorsement implied). Licence: Method, not data. Checked .
- holidays Python library, run locally. Attribution: holidays library, Vacanza team. Licence: MIT. Checked .
Official sources
Cite this page: City by Month. "Madrid in December: weather, daylight, holidays". https://citybymonth.com/cities/spain/madrid/december/. Last updated 5 November 2026.