Portugal in Winter 2024:
Hello this is Ismail of Europe Diary. Today I am talking about ”Portugal in winter 2024: Everything you need to know.” Let’s start our today’s blog.
The Appeal of Portugal: Taxes and Weather
Many people choose to move to Portugal for one specific reason actually too, taxes and weather. People think that it’s summer all year long, but is it? Though? Let’s find out here’s what people imagine when moving to Portugal.
Understanding Portugal’s Winter Climate
It’s winter, it’s warm, it’s summer all year round, but the reality can be a little bit different. One thing to remember, there’s no such thing as a general winter climate in Portugal, because Portugal is big, and if you go up north, you can find snow and negative degrees, while in Lisbon the climate is a bit milder. So during the day in winter months, it’s super comfortable around +10 +15 Celsius. And if you’re coming from a country like Canada, for you, it’s literally.
The Challenge of Dressing for Winter
Let’s go to the beach kind of weather. And honestly, I’m a little bit sad, because with the sun I cannot wear my sweaters or my Timberlands or like warm jackets, because once you go uphill, you’re gonna be sweating like you literally start like undressing. And the worst thing you can get cold and you can get sick.
The Temperature Drop After Sunset
But here’s the thing. Once the sun goes down, it gets really cold. Now it’s end of October and the temperatures are around 12-14 Celsius during evening and night. But once we get to January, it’s gonna be like +2, +3, +4 cases which is quite chilly. I should say, and yeah, while the sun can be shining and it can be really warm and hot during the day, the wind is what makes a difference.
The Guessing Game: Locals vs. Tourists
And my favorite game during winter is the guessing game. Guess who is the local? Guess who is the tourist? Because if you see people half naked wearing dresses and shorts and like t-shirts. British people came to visit Lisbon. And if you see a person like Mr. Ismail in layers with lake scarves and beanies and whatever. That’s the local for sure.
Timing is Everything: What to Wear
So you might be thinking it’s hot during the day and then it’s cold during the night. So what do I wear? And first of all, it really depends on the time you leave your house.
Preparing for Office Hours
Because if you go to the office, for example, early in the morning, it’s still going to be cold, and then you finish your job at like 5, 6 PM. It’s gonna be already cold because the sun’s gonna be going down and it’s gonna get chilly.
The Dilemma of Evening Attire
But the worst part about winters is if you leave your house around 5, 6 PM, when it’s still sunny, but it’s gonna get cold in an hour. What do you wear every time I would dress up, put like layers on whatever, and then I’m gonna sweat? Or the next time I’m like, you know what, it’s gonna be hot. And then I’m gonna be like inside like, blah, blah, blah. I’ll be freezing my ass, so be careful.
Essential Clothing Tips for Winter
I would say, get a jacket and then get like an extra scarf with you. Secondly, it comes up to how you can tolerate cold and that’s important. I know people who live here in Portugal in Lisbon in particular, and they would wear shorts all year round, and then you have me who’d wear like all the layers possible.
Choosing the Right Jacket
Overall, I’m gonna say get a nice fall jacket. You don’t need like, you know, a Canada goose kind of thing jacket for winter. But if you’re gonna go to the ocean or somewhere like close to the water, you might want to wear that as well, but get a scarf, a beanie, and some warm socks.
Importance of Keeping Warm
As Babbuka told me, your feet should always be in the warmth, because this is how your body stays warm. That’s actually the thing. If you’re wearing nice socks, you’re gonna be good.
Managing Indoor Temperatures
The trickiest part about winters in Portugal is the temperature inside of your home because with outside temperatures, you kinda like. Yeah, it’s plus ten. I kind of know what it is, but then you get to your apartment and you’re like. It’s really cold for me. It’s super simple warm socks, warm pajamas, and slippers, and you’re gonna be fine.
Sunlight and Temperature Variations
It also depends really on your apartment because if your apartment gets enough sunlight, you’ll be fine. For example, I’m filming this and the sun is shining into my face, and I’m pretty sure the temperature in my apartment actually is +24 because this is the sun side and outside is like I don’t know 18 degrees. But if your apartment doesn’t get enough sunlight, you’re gonna be very cold, my friend.
Dealing with Cold Nights
My bedroom is on the other side of the building, so in the shade side, and some days I would wake up to like +16 in the apartment. Our buildings’ category, like the electrical category, whatever it’s called. It’s not like the lowest, it’s like one of the highest, but still the apartment will cool down during the night.
The Shock of Cold Apartments
And if you’re coming in from a country with central heating with any kind of heating like Canada or post-USSR countries, you’ll be shocked because it’s gonna be so freaking cold. I told you I warned you, please be careful. But if you’re coming from other countries in Europe where you don’t get like central heating or whatever, you’ll be fine.
The Unspoken Truth: Constant Sickness
One thing that nobody talks about winters in Portugal, you are constantly sick, like every person I’ve talked to here in Lisbon. They were like, I’ve never been this sick in my life when you have heating or whatever you know.
Allergies and Mold Issues
For example, Canada, you get flu once a season because like you know whether it’s changing. Blah, blah, blah. I got a flu, I’m sick here. You constantly like your nose is running, you coughing, and like it feels like the sickness never ends and that actually might be due to mold. Because mold is a big problem here in Portugal, not in Portugal, but in countries where have summer all year round.
Finding a Mold-Free Apartment
At least it’s not snowing. I don’t know about that your apartment can’t get moldy, and I’ve learned here in Portugal that you can be allergic to mold. Never heard about that before. When searching for an apartment, please check the walls if there are any signs of mold like the black walls or whatever, even the smell like you can tell if it’s moldy in the apartment ask the neighbors ask people who live there like landlords, even though landlords gonna tell you anything just to like you sign at least, but just be careful because when it’s going to be rainy in winter. Your apartment’s going to be moldy as hell and we don’t want that.
Tips for Staying Warm in Winter
So how do you actually keep yourself warm during winters in Portugal? First of all, you can close windows and blinds. When I first moved to Portugal, I was shocked by the amount of closed blinds everywhere in the city, especially coming from Canada where everything is open.
Understanding the Need for Blinds
You have those coda buildings, everyone can see each other here, everything is closed and I’m like that’s weird. But then I learned that this is done to save the heat or during summer months, the coolness in the apartment and it kind of makes sense.
Investment in Heating Solutions
But if you don’t want to play this like close and opening game, you can always invest in things like electrical sheets I’ve heard. It’s really big in countries like Portugal, Spain or whatever. I’ve never tried those nothing to recommend here. You can buy heaters, dehumidifiers and dehumidifier is really important again. If you don’t want to get that mold, invest in a dehumidifier and if you planning to stay in Portugal long term AC because AC can cool the apartment down, warm it up, do many things, and you can actually set it up the way you go to bed.
Getting Used to New Temperatures
For example, you turn off all the heating and let’s say at 6 AM, it’s gonna turn on and you’re gonna wake up in the warm apartment, not to like +15 or 16. And another thing to mention is that it actually takes time to get used to the temperatures because the first year we moved to Portugal.
Adjusting to the Local Climate
I think I froze to the bones because I was constantly shaking. There is no heating, no nothing. I would like move the heater with me like I go to the kitchen and take it with me because I was so freaking cold all the time last winter. Like I would have people over and I would open all the windows because I was like, oh, it’s getting hot in here and my friends were like. Ismail. Aren’t you like cold? And I’m literally wearing like a t-shirt with shorts opening all the windows and everyone’s like.
The Ocean’s Constant Temperature
Okay so yeah, it will take time to get used to the new temperatures to the new climate. It’s not gonna happen overnight for sure and the best part for all the people who tell me that the ocean is super warm like, let’s go for a swim in winter, it’s the same temperature +17 all year round. So if you were telling me that it’s super warm, you can swim in it.
Conclusion: Preparing for Winter in Portugal
Please, I invite you to go swim in January in the ocean because the temperature is literally the same as during the summer. This is it for today. I hope you’ve learned something new if you move to Portugal. I wish you all the best and as always, if you enjoyed this blog, don’t forget to stay with us so you don’t miss any new blog post. See you next day. Bye!!
