The months with a mean daily maximum between 20 and 30°C in Seville are March, April, May, October and November.
Five of twelve, which sounds generous until the rain column is added and two of those five turn out to be a different proposition entirely.
Is spring the same as autumn in Seville?
No. March and November are half a degree apart in mean temperature, 15.6 against 15.1, but November takes 91 mm of rain and March 36, two and a half times more. Sunshine falls from 220 hours to 181. The dry shoulder season in Seville is spring, not autumn.
The two shoulder seasons are not equivalent
Set March against November and the mean temperature separates them by half a degree, 15.6 to 15.1. On that column alone they are the same month.
Rain separates them by far more. March takes 36 mm and November 91, and sunshine falls from 220 hours to 181, close to forty fewer. One is a dry month with a mild chance of rain; the other is the second wettest of the year.
Humidity widens the gap further. December sits at 74 % mean relative humidity and March at 59 %, so the wetter shoulder month is also the damper one on the days it does not rain, according to AEMET.
The same pattern repeats a step higher, and this is where English-speaking visitors most often land. October is the default autumn choice, and it runs a mean daily maximum of 26.0°C against April’s 23.4, so it is genuinely warmer. It also takes 68 mm against April’s 54, and gets 216 sunshine hours against 238. The autumn month of each pair is the wetter one.
May wins on all three columns at once
One month takes every measure without argument. May carries a mean daily maximum of 27.2°C, 30 mm of rain and 293 hours of sunshine: warm without crossing thirty, nearly the driest month outside summer, and sunnier than anything below June.
April and October come next and each concedes something. April gives up sunshine at 238 hours and takes 54 mm. October gains heat at 26.0°C and gives up 68 mm and 216 hours.
March is the dry alternative of the mild band, at 36 mm, 21.9°C of maxima and 220 hours. Colder than the other two, drier than April.
Four months above 30°C and three below 20
Sorted by mean daily maximum, the twelve months fall into three clean blocks.
Above 30°C: June at 32.2, July at 36.0, August at 35.5 and September at 31.7. Four months, not two, and September belongs on the list even though habit treats it as a transition.
Below 20°C: January at 16.0, February at 18.1 and December at 16.6. The remaining five sit between the thresholds.
Rain arrives stacked, not spread
November, December and January take 256 of the 539 mm that fall in a year, 47 % of the total in a quarter of the calendar. June, July and August share 17 mm between the three, 3.2 %.
Between those extremes the remaining six months divide 266 mm. Seville does not have a dry season and a wet one so much as a stacked one: half the year’s water lands in a quarter of it.
The distance between the two ends is larger than in most of Europe. December takes 99 mm and July 2, a ratio close to 50 to 1 between the wettest and the driest month, which is why a single annual rainfall figure describes no month in particular.
Humidity follows the same cycle rather than the temperature. December sits at 74 % and July at 44 %, thirty points apart, which is why the summer heat reads as dry and the winter damp reads as colder than the thermometer says.
What the averages cannot settle
These are normal values for an average year, not a forecast, and two things move above them. The first is Holy Week, which falls inside a 35-day window and pulls the Feria behind it, as set out in the guide to why Holy Week moves.
The second is opening hours. The Museo de Bellas Artes de Sevilla shortens only through August while the Museo de Artes y Costumbres Populares does so from 16 June to 15 September, so a July trip finds one open to 9pm and the other shut at 3pm.
A hot month also changes what is worth booking. The Real Alcázar runs an evening garden visit from 9pm to 10.25pm at €7.00, which only exists in the warm half of the year, and Seville Cathedral holds its free Sunday slot from 4.30pm to 6pm all year with prior booking. One is a summer answer to the heat; the other is indifferent to it.
A first-time visitor deciding on the numbers alone can work down four steps.
- Pick May if the dates are open, on the best combination of the three columns.
- Choose March over November when a shoulder month is the only option, for 55 mm less rain.
- Take October over April only if warmth matters more than dry days and daylight.
- Check the Holy Week dates for the year in question before booking anything in spring.
The full summer breakdown sits in the AEMET figures for July and August, and what a stay actually costs in the three-day Seville budget, where the monument ticket prices are set out door by door.
Month by month
Sorted from the hottest month down, rather than by calendar. All figures come from the Sevilla Aeropuerto station, 34 metres above sea level beside the Guadalquivir, which is the reference the Agency publishes for the city.
| Month | Mean daily max | Sunshine | Rain | Mean |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| July | 36.0°C | 354 h | 2 mm | 28.2°C |
| August | 35.5°C | 328 h | 5 mm | 27.9°C |
| June | 32.2°C | 317 h | 10 mm | 25.1°C |
| September | 31.7°C | 244 h | 27 mm | 25.0°C |
| May | 27.2°C | 293 h | 30 mm | 20.7°C |
| October | 26.0°C | 216 h | 68 mm | 20.2°C |
| April | 23.4°C | 238 h | 54 mm | 17.3°C |
| March | 21.9°C | 220 h | 36 mm | 15.6°C |
| November | 20.2°C | 181 h | 91 mm | 15.1°C |
| February | 18.1°C | 189 h | 50 mm | 12.5°C |
| December | 16.6°C | 154 h | 99 mm | 11.9°C |
| January | 16.0°C | 183 h | 66 mm | 10.9°C |
The year closes at 19.2°C mean, 25.4°C mean daily maximum and 539 mm of rain, on the series the Agency records for the reference period.
Frequently asked questions about when to visit Seville
What is the best month to visit Seville?
May, on the AEMET normal values. It carries a mean daily maximum of 27.2°C, 30 mm of rain and 293 hours of sunshine, the best combination of the twelve. April and October follow, each with more rain and fewer sunshine hours.
Is spring the same as autumn in Seville?
No, and the difference is rain rather than temperature. March and November are half a degree apart in mean temperature, 15.6 against 15.1, but November takes 91 mm and March 36, two and a half times more. Sunshine drops from 220 hours to 181.
When does it rain in Seville?
In November, December and January, which together take 256 of the 539 mm that fall in a year, 47 % of the total in three months. Summer is the reverse: June, July and August share 17 mm between them, 3.2 % of the year.
How many months are genuinely hot in Seville?
Four exceed a mean daily maximum of 30°C: June at 32.2, July at 36.0, August at 35.5 and September at 31.7. Three sit below 20, which are January, February and December. The other five fall between the two thresholds.
Is October a good month to visit Seville?
Warmer than April but wetter. October runs a mean daily maximum of 26.0°C against April’s 23.4, and takes 68 mm of rain against April’s 54. It also gets 216 hours of sunshine to April’s 238, so the trade is heat for water and light.
How humid is Seville in summer?
Least humid of the year. AEMET gives 44 % mean relative humidity in July and 48 % in June and August, against 74 % in December. Seville’s summer heat is dry, which changes how it is borne compared with a coastal city.
May on the numbers. And between March and November, March, by 55 millimetres.