Autumn in Spain 2025: When it begins and what to expect
The season starts on September 22 with milder weather, fewer rainy days and plenty of sky-watching highlights
Spanish summer is slowly coming to an end and autumn is just around the corner. This year it officially begins on Monday September 22 at 8.19 in the evening in mainland Spain, a little earlier at 7.19pm in the Canary Islands.
That exact moment is known as the autumn equinox, the point when day and night are almost the same length. From then on the balance tips and the nights slowly start to grow longer than the days.
Autumn Equinox 2025: The beginning of the season
The equinox doesn’t fall on the same date every year. Sometimes it arrives on the 21st, sometimes on the 23rd, and in rare cases even on the 24th. In 2025 it lands on the 22nd.
The reason lies in the Earth’s orbit. Our planet takes 365 days, 5 hours and 48 minutes to circle the Sun. Those extra hours push the calendar slightly off balance and leap years help correct it.
This autumn will last almost 90 days until December 21, when winter officially begins.
What the weather will be like
This year the forecast points to a warmer season than usual across most of Spain. The rise in temperatures will be most noticeable in the centre, the north and along the Mediterranean coast.
Rainfall won’t be evenly spread, either. The north, the east and the Canary Islands are expected to receive close to average amounts of rain, while the rest of the country looks set for a drier than usual few months.
Of course, autumn still brings its share of surprises.
Mediterranean storms and the infamous DANAs can appear without much warning. Average temperatures on the mainland usually sit between 12 and 17ºC with the north and northwest seeing more rain and the southeast much less.
Looking back at 2024
Last autumn was a warm one too. The average temperature in Spain reached 15.5ºC, one degree above the 1991 to 2020 average. That made it the seventh warmest autumn since records began. Rain was plentiful as well with 236.5 millimetres recorded, 18% more than normal.
The standout moment came in October when a powerful DANA hit the Valencian Community. In the town of Turís, 772 litres per square metre fell in just 24 hours, a record-breaking figure.
Since the 1980s Spain has seen warmer and warmer autumns, with more than half this century landing above average. It is one of the clearest signs of climate change in action.
Autumn skies and celestial shows
The equinox might be the start of the season but the sky has plenty more to offer. On September 7 we had a spectacular total lunar eclipse, with the Moon glowing red over almost all of Spain.
A partial solar eclipse follows on September 21 but it won’t be visible here, only in Antarctica and parts of Australia.
Meteor showers will also brighten the skies throughout autumn. The Draconids peak on October 8, though the full Moon will make them hard to see, while the Orionids on October 21 fall under perfect dark conditions.
The Leonids reach their maximum on November 17 with up to 15 meteors an hour, and the Geminids arrive on December 14 as the most spectacular shower of the year.
There will also be three full moons during the season, on October 7, November 5 and December 5.
Other seasonal wonders
The equinox itself is not something you can see, but it leaves traces in the sky. Around this time the Harvest Moon rises earlier than usual and appears larger. Aurora activity also tends to increase thanks to stronger interaction between the solar wind and the Earth’s magnetic field.
Another subtle treat is the zodiacal light, a faint glow on the horizon in very dark skies caused by sunlight bouncing off cosmic dust.
The time change
Autumn in Spain also brings the clock change. Remember the old saying: Spring Forward, Fall Back.
In 2025 the switch will happen in the early hours of Sunday October 26. At three in the morning the clocks will go back to 2am. In the Canary Islands one o’clock will slip back to midnight.
Although the European Union has debated ending this practice, the change will remain in place for another year.
Image: Canva
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