When to visit
Because Vera Playa is located just about as far south as it is possible to go in Europe, and is some way from the Atlantic, it normally enjoys exceptionally mild winter weather. The south-east corner of Spain within which it lies normally has over 300 days with sun each year and an exceptionally dry climate - which is good for people who suffer from rheumatism and arthritis and other maladies which are worse in a damp environment. (Don't believe any claims you hear about 340, 350 days of solid sun in any place or resort - that's just advertising hype - everywhere has to have some rain - which means cloud as well - to be habitable! The Costa Almeria, almost certainly, has the highest amount of sunshine in mainland Europe and certainly has the warmest and driest winters - probably driest summers too - after all it's only about 40 kms from Europe's only officially designated desert - Tabernas - and not far off from being desert itself).
Most Spanish visitors take their main holidays in July or August and this is the time when Vera Playa is the busiest. It is also the time when temperatures can be very high indeed and when air-conditioning, especially at night, can be nice (not much benefit during the day though - unless you like being shut up indoors with all the doors and windows closed!). However there is often a breeze from the sea and the weather is rarely stifling.
Visitors and property owners from northern European countries tend to like to holiday at Vera Playa sometime between April and June or in September/October when the weather is usually warm to hot and generally settled. Stiff sea breezes can whip up during settled days, but, as in the summer, this helps to avoid the climate becoming too stifling.The weather can be fine and warm and good enough for sun-bathing throughout the winter - even in the depths of winter daytime highs of the low 70s in the shade are common in sheltered, south-oriented situations, though night temperatures can fall to single figures. In winter (November/December to February/March) it is essential to stay in a property which has a good southerly orientation, not only so you can sunbathe on your own terrace/garden but also because it makes a lot of difference to the temperature inside the apartment - properties which get little or no winter sun on them can be very cold inside and, surprisingly, some have no means of heating, probably because their owners only use them in the summer. If you are booking an apartment be very careful to check out its orientation and what heating it has.
So, the answer to the question "When to visit?" is simple - when you feel like it!
Note: Due to the intensity of the sun, especially in Spring and Summer,
adequate sun protection is vital and if your salt intake is normally low
- as it often is these days on medical advice - take salt tablets or other
extra salt to avoid heatstroke.
Vera Playa Weather Torrential rain & sad news
2005
2004
2003
2002
2001
N.B. All temperature measurements were taken in shade in a north
facing location.Shade temperatures in sheltered south-facing locations
can be 5 to 10 degrees Celsius higher - for example, on 28 January
2003 the shade temperature at a north-facing property was 16 degrees
and at a south-facing one 26 degrees. Statistics courtesy of John Cornforth (up to June 2005 lived at
Vera Playa but now lives a little way away inland, so please regard
temperatures etc as indicative of the Levante sub-region) - maximum
temperatures at Vera Playa are probably a degree or so lower and
minimum temperatures a degree or so higher (due to the proximity
of the sea and sea breezes). Weather Monitor & Forecasts
A word of caution: Our home page used to carry a link to
the above weather monitoring station which is in Almeria city approx
100 kms from Vera Playa on the other side of a range of hills and
mountains. Local observation during 2002 suggests that the temperatures
shown by the Almeria city monitor are frequently 4 to 6 degrees
celsius lower than at Vera Playa. This tends to confirm the reputation
of the coastline around Vera Playa as being the warmest spot on
the Spanish coast. Almeria city is "round the south-east corner"
of Spain and is more open to colder Atlantic weather pushing through
the Straits of Gibraltar. A good weather website to visit is www.inm.es - the Spanish equivalent of the Met Office
Last update: 6 May 2006
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