Winter Sun in January: Where Is Warm, Ranked by Real Weather
Eighteen places UK travellers search for in January, ranked by official weather station averages, and how the coolest month of the year reshuffles the list.
The warmest winter-sun destinations UK travellers search for in January are Thailand (32.7°C, or 90.9°F, average high in Bangkok and 32.1°C at Phuket), Cape Verde (25.0°C on Sal) and Dubai (24.4°C), on official 1991-2020 station averages. Closer to home, the south of Tenerife edges ahead at 22.8°C, with Egypt's Red Sea resorts at 22.2°C. January is the coolest month of the year almost everywhere else on the list, so Cyprus, Tunisia, the Algarve, Malta and Antalya drop to between 15.0°C and 17.3°C.
Every average in the table is a station normal from a national weather service, published through the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) or by the service itself, with the station named: 1991-2020 for every station except Malta, which is 1961-1990. An average describes a typical January, not a promise for yours.
Where is hot in January? The ranking
Ranked by average daytime high. Rain is the average January total and, where the filed figure is usable, the average number of days with at least 1 mm.
| Destination (station) | High | Low | Rain | Verdict |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Thailand: Bangkok | 32.7°C | 23.4°C | 24 mm, 1.9 days | Hottest days here |
| Thailand: Phuket (airport) | 32.1°C | 22.9°C | 66 mm, 5.1 days | Hot, a few showers |
| Cape Verde (Sal airport) | 25.0°C | 19.2°C | 3 mm, 0.5 days | Warm and almost dry |
| Dubai (Dubai International airport) | 24.4°C | 15.3°C | 21 mm | Sunny, cooler nights |
| Tenerife south (Tenerife Sur airport) | 22.8°C | 15.2°C | 17 mm, 1.6 days | Warmest of the Canaries |
| Egypt: Sharm el-Sheikh (airport) | 22.2°C | 13.8°C | 3 mm, 0.2 days | Dry, cool nights |
| Egypt: Hurghada (airport) | 22.2°C | 11.6°C | 0.7 mm, 0.2 days | Dry, chilly nights |
| Lanzarote (airport) | 21.7°C | 13.6°C | 15 mm, 2.8 days | Sunny, cool nights |
| Morocco: Agadir (Inezgane) | 21.2°C | 8.4°C | 32 mm, 2.8 days | Warm days, cold nights |
| Gran Canaria (airport) | 21.1°C | 15.6°C | 26 mm, 2.7 days | Mildest Canary nights |
| Fuerteventura (airport) | 21.0°C | 15.2°C | 13 mm, 2.3 days | Least rain of the Canaries |
| Madeira: Funchal | 20.0°C | 14.3°C | 67 mm, 6.2 days | Mild, wetter than the Canaries |
| Marrakech | 19.1°C | 5.9°C | 25 mm, 3.0 days | Mild days, cold nights |
| Cyprus: Paphos (airport) | 17.3°C | 8.6°C | 90 mm | Mild, wet season |
| Tunisia: Monastir | 16.9°C | 8.7°C | 37 mm, 4.7 days | Cool, sightseeing weather |
| Portugal: Faro, Algarve | 16.3°C | 8.3°C | 49 mm, 6.0 days | Cool, some rain |
| Malta (Luqa, 1961-1990) | 15.2°C | 9.2°C | 89 mm | Cool and wet |
| Turkey: Antalya (airport) | 15.0°C | 5.7°C | 214 mm, 9.6 days | Coldest and wettest here |
Sources: WMO 1991-2020 normals filed by each country (AEMET for the Canaries, the Thai Meteorological Department for Thailand), IPMA for Funchal and Faro, and the Malta Meteorological Office's 1961-1990 averages for Luqa, the only official Malta set with separate day and night averages we could find online, so Malta is not strictly comparable. The rain-day counts filed for Cyprus and Dubai are not usable (Cyprus lists more rain days than some months have, and Dubai lists days with 1 mm or more in months whose average total is under 1 mm), so only rainfall is shown for them.
How is January different from December?
Cooler, and in the Canaries drier. January has the lowest average high of the year at every station in the table except four. At Funchal and Sal, February is 0.1°C lower. Bangkok's coolest month is December (32.3°C), and Phuket's is September (30.9°C), in the wet season. Compared with December:
- In the Canaries the high falls by about 1°C: 0.9°C at Tenerife Sur, 1.2°C at Gran Canaria airport.
- On the Red Sea it falls by 1.6 to 1.7°C: Hurghada and Sharm el-Sheikh both average 22.2°C.
- In Cyprus and Dubai it falls by about 2°C: 2.0°C at Paphos, 2.1°C at Dubai.
That reshuffles the ranking. Tenerife's south coast moves ahead of the Red Sea, and Cape Verde moves ahead of Dubai. The Canaries also get drier: all four airports average fewer rain days in January than in December, and Tenerife Sur's falls from 3.2 to 1.6.
Is Tenerife warm in January? The Canaries and Madeira
Yes in the south, where Tenerife Sur airport averages 22.8°C by day, 15.2°C at night and 222 hours of sunshine, about 7.1 hours a day. Tenerife Norte airport, 632 metres up in the north, averages 16.3°C, 123 hours of sunshine and 7.5 rain days, so the side of the island you book matters as much as the island.
The other Canaries sit within a degree of each other: Lanzarote 21.7°C, Gran Canaria 21.1°C and Fuerteventura 21.0°C. Lanzarote has the most sunshine of the three (213 hours) and the coolest nights (13.6°C); Gran Canaria the mildest nights (15.6°C).
Madeira is a step cooler and wetter. IPMA's Funchal station, at 58 metres in the city, averages 20.0°C by day and 14.3°C at night in January, with 67 mm of rain over 6.2 days, more than twice the rain days of any Canary airport in the table.
Who it suits: walkers and anyone happy with 20 to 23°C. Madeira's gardens and levadas need a rain layer; Tenerife's south gives the best odds of dry, sunny days.
Is it worth going further for January sun?
If you want reliable heat, yes. January is in Thailand's driest stretch on the station figures: Bangkok averages 1.9 days of rain and 216 hours of sunshine, and Phuket airport, on the Andaman coast, 5.1 rain days with highs of 32.1°C. The Gulf of Thailand side is different. Ko Samui averages 127 mm over 8.5 days in January, after 263 mm in December, so it is still drying out. In the north, Chiang Mai reaches 30.0°C by day but drops to 15.7°C at night.
Dubai is warm rather than hot in January: 24.4°C by day, 15.3°C at night, with 253 hours of sunshine, about 8.2 hours a day. Cape Verde is the most even, with Sal averaging 25.0°C by day and 19.2°C at night and half a day of measurable rain.
Who it suits: Thailand for beach heat, Cape Verde for warm nights, Dubai for sunshine with comfortable afternoons.
Is Egypt hot in January? The Red Sea and Morocco
Warm in the day, cold at night. On the Egyptian Red Sea coast, Sharm el-Sheikh and Hurghada both average 22.2°C, with almost no rain, but Hurghada's average low is 11.6°C, a drop of more than 10°C after sunset, and Sharm's is 13.8°C. Morocco has the same pattern, more strongly. Agadir averages 21.2°C by day and 8.4°C at night. Marrakech, inland at 464 metres, manages 19.1°C in the afternoon and 5.9°C overnight, a gap of 13.2°C.
Who it suits: sunny days for diving, desert trips or the souks, as long as you pack warm layers for the evenings.
Is Malta or Cyprus warm in January?
Mild, not warm. Paphos airport averages 17.3°C by day and 8.6°C at night, with 90 mm of rain and 180 hours of sunshine. Malta's official 1961-1990 averages give 15.2°C and 9.2°C with 89 mm. Monastir in Tunisia (16.9°C), Faro in the Algarve (16.3°C, 6 rain days) and Antalya (15.0°C, with 214 mm over 9.6 days) are in the same band.
A single January can sit well away from the average in either direction. The Cyprus Department of Meteorology put January 2024 about 2.3°C above normal, measured against its 1981-2010 average, an older baseline than the 1991-2020 figures in the table, yet the same month brought flooding rain, hail and a tornado that cut down trees in Ayia Napa.
How should you read the forecast for a January trip?
Pick the destination from the averages, then let the forecast decide the packing. As our guide to how far ahead you can trust a forecast explains, detail is dependable to roughly five days, useful to about a week, and only a broad steer beyond. Three habits help in January:
- Read the overnight low, not just the high. In Hurghada, Agadir and Marrakech the gap is 10 to 13°C.
- Watch the week before for rain. A low monthly average does not rule out a stormy week, as January 2024 in Cyprus showed.
- Compare models. Our destination pages show a live forecast with every model compared, so you can see whether they agree before you change plans.
In January the heat is in Thailand, with Cape Verde and Dubai the warm options closer in. The south of Tenerife is the best bet in the Canaries, while Madeira, Cyprus, Malta, Tunisia, the Algarve and Antalya are mild-weather breaks in their coolest month rather than beach holidays.