Andorra's weather and climate, from valley to summit

Talking about Andorra’s weather means talking about altitude. In a country with weather stations from 861 metres and peaks up to 2,942, there isn’t one climate but several, and the weather in a square in Andorra la Vella has little to do with a high mountain lake on the same day. Here’s what the climate is like, which temperatures are normal on the valley floor, where to find the official forecast and how everything changes as you climb.

A mountain climate with Mediterranean sunshine

The tourist board describes the country’s climate as Mediterranean high-mountain. Summers are short, hot and fairly dry, and winters long and very cold, with plenty of snow. The Mediterranean influence brings lots of light, more than three hundred sunny days a year, and low humidity, which makes the cold easier to take and the heat less heavy. The wettest seasons are summer and autumn.

Snow settles on the high mountains from about November to early June, and the heaviest falls come between December and February. That’s the calendar the ski season is built around, and in 2026-27 it opens on 4 December and ends on 4 April.

Normal temperatures, month by month

The government weather service, meteo.ad, doesn’t publish a table of monthly normals, but each of its climate summaries gives the month’s mean temperature at its reference station, the FEDA hydroelectric plant at 1,135 metres on the valley floor, together with its anomaly against the 1991-2020 average. Subtract one from the other and you get each month’s normal, which is what’s in the table.

In round numbers, January averages about 3°C and July and August about 19°C. December and February sit around 4°C, March at 7 and April at 9, May at 12, June at 17, September at 15, October at 11 and November at 6. In August, that station normally sees 19 days above 25°C and four above 30. These are day and night averaged together, so summer afternoons are warmer and winter mornings a lot colder.

2026 is running warm. June came in 3.9 degrees above normal, July 4.3 and April 3.8, according to the same summaries. What doesn’t exist is an official normal for rainfall or average highs and lows by month, which is why I don’t give them. I’d be wary of monthly rainfall tables that don’t say which station they come from.

Altitude changes everything

meteo.ad’s network runs from a station at 861 metres to one at 2,681, at Les Fonts d’Arinsal. In between are La Margineda at 950, Canillo at 1,526, Ransol at 1,641, the Coll d’Ordino at 1,901, Pas de la Casa at 2,120 and Sorteny at 2,271. Each station page shows live temperature, rainfall, wind and snow depth.

That’s why the weather in Canillo, Ordino or Sant Julià gives different answers. The south, around Sant Julià and Andorra la Vella, is the lowest and mildest, Canillo and Ordino are higher and cooler, while Pas de la Casa and the resorts are in another league. The mountains have their own pages, Pas de la Casa weather and Grandvalira weather.

Where to find the official forecast

On meteo.ad. Its home page shows the current warning level, forecasts split into morning, afternoon and night for the next few days, and meteograms. The tourist board’s weather page sums up the next few days with highs, lows and wind. And mountain weather changes fast, as the tourist board itself points out, asking walkers to check reliable sources before setting out and to stay alert during the day.

What to do with all this

If you’re flying into Toulouse or Barcelona and hiring a car, the weather that matters most on arrival day is on the road up. From 1 November to 15 May chains or winter tyres are compulsory in Andorra, the UK Foreign Office reminds drivers, and Mobilitat’s live cameras and helpline on +376 1802 1802 show what the passes are doing before you commit.

My advice is to pack for two climates at once. Even in July, if you plan to walk up to a lake or a viewpoint, bring a warm layer and something waterproof. It’s all in what to pack for Andorra. And if you’re still choosing dates, weather is only part of the decision, which I go into in the best time to visit Andorra, with links to each month, starting with Andorra in January. November, with a 6.3 °C normal mean on the valley floor, is the changeover month before the snow, covered in Andorra in November.