Europe's sunniest cities in 2026, ranked
296 major European destinations ranked by annual sunshine hours from long-term climate normals, by Sunshine Atlas. Published October 2026.
Key findings
• Jerez de la Frontera, Spain is Europe's sunniest city: 3,263 hours of sunshine a year — 2.0× more than London's 1,592.
• Spain dominates the podium with 4 of Europe's 10 sunniest cities.
• The sunniest big city (1M+ people) is Madrid at 2,989 h/yr.
• Winter champion: Almería tops the November–February Sunshine Score at 79/100 with 17°C / 63°F January days.
The top 30
| # | City | Country | Sun h/yr | Winter score | Best month |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Jerez de la Frontera | Spain | 3,263 | 59 | June |
| 2 | Kos | Greece | 3,218 | 47 | July |
| 3 | Rhodes | Greece | 3,201 | 55 | July |
| 4 | Granada | Spain | 3,197 | 46 | June |
| 5 | Karpathos | Greece | 3,177 | 59 | July |
| 6 | Seville | Spain | 3,167 | 65 | May |
| 7 | Faro | Portugal | 3,157 | 60 | July |
| 8 | Lampedusa | Italy | 3,136 | 64 | July |
| 9 | Gibraltar | Gibraltar | 3,134 | 61 | June |
| 10 | Almería | Spain | 3,132 | 79 | June |
| 11 | Málaga | Spain | 3,106 | 60 | June |
| 12 | Murcia | Spain | 3,093 | 65 | June |
| 13 | Samos | Greece | 3,081 | 48 | July |
| 14 | Valletta | Malta | 3,046 | 59 | July |
| 15 | Comiso | Italy | 3,021 | 51 | June |
| 16 | Santorini | Greece | 3,012 | 55 | June |
| 17 | Madrid | Spain | 2,989 | 24 | June |
| 18 | Lisbon | Portugal | 2,985 | 47 | July |
| 19 | Zakynthos | Greece | 2,970 | 48 | July |
| 20 | Ibiza (Eivissa) | Spain | 2,950 | 52 | July |
| 21 | Alicante | Spain | 2,939 | 66 | June |
| 22 | Heraklion | Greece | 2,929 | 60 | July |
| 23 | Trapani (TP) | Italy | 2,928 | 54 | July |
| 24 | Athens | Greece | 2,907 | 44 | August |
| 25 | Mykonos | Greece | 2,897 | 44 | July |
| 26 | Chaniá | Greece | 2,895 | 52 | July |
| 27 | Valencia | Spain | 2,894 | 64 | June |
| 28 | Marseille | France | 2,885 | 32 | July |
| 29 | Palma de Mallorca | Spain | 2,860 | 52 | July |
| 30 | Preveza | Greece | 2,849 | 44 | July |
Explore all 3,833 destinations on the interactive globe →
Where the sun goes in winter
The same cities re-ranked by the November–February Sunshine Score — the "winter sun" league table.
| # | City | Country | Sun h/yr | Winter score | Best month |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Almería | Spain | 3,132 | 79 | June |
| 2 | Funchal | Portugal | 2,835 | 78 | July |
| 3 | Alicante | Spain | 2,939 | 66 | June |
| 4 | Seville | Spain | 3,167 | 65 | May |
| 5 | Murcia | Spain | 3,093 | 65 | June |
| 6 | Lampedusa | Italy | 3,136 | 64 | July |
| 7 | Valencia | Spain | 2,894 | 64 | June |
| 8 | Ponta Delgada | Portugal | 2,421 | 62 | July |
| 9 | Gibraltar | Gibraltar | 3,134 | 61 | June |
| 10 | Faro | Portugal | 3,157 | 60 | July |
Methodology
Rankings use long-term climate normals (NASA POWER, 2001–2020): annual sunshine hours for the headline table, and the 0–100 Sunshine Score — daytime warmth × dryness × sunshine — averaged over November–February for the winter table. Only major destinations with a passenger airport are ranked, so every entry is somewhere you can actually fly. Full formula on the methodology page. For the country-level league, see Europe's sunniest countries.
Republish this data
This ranking is free to use under CC BY 4.0: credit Sunshine Atlas and link to this page. Download the full ranking as CSV: sunshine-atlas-europe-sunniest-cities.csv (296 cities, sunshine hours + winter scores + best months).
Put this widget on your site
A live "where's sunny this month" ranking that refreshes itself each month — free to embed under CC BY 4.0. Paste this wherever you'd like it to appear:
Live preview — this is exactly what your readers see: