Valencia or Zurich: which climate?
Valencia (Spain) has a cold semi-arid climate, whereas Zurich (Switzerland) has a temperate oceanic climate, according to the Köppen-Geiger classification.
The values compared here are normals computed over 86 complete calendar years, from 1940 to 2025, using ERA5 reanalysis data from the Copernicus programme. The same method and the same period apply to Valencia and to Zurich.
Valencia is warmer than Zurich by 7.6 °C in annual average: 16.9 °C against 9.3 °C.
Zurich gets more rain than Valencia: 1,375 mm per year against 447 mm.
Valencia gets 10.6 hours of sunshine per day on average, against 8.6 hours in Zurich.
Valencia and Zurich are warming at the same rate: about +2.4 °C between 1940 and 2025 on both sides.
Valencia averages 34 hot days (≥ 30 °C) and 1 frost days per year; Zurich averages 4 and 76.
Data from ERA5 reanalysis (Copernicus Climate Change Service), redistributed under a CC-BY 4.0 licence. Normals are recomputed whenever the archive is updated.
| Indicator | Valencia | Zurich | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mean daily temperature | 16.9 °C | 9.3 °C | -7.6 °C |
| Average daily high | 21.2 °C | 13.1 °C | -8.1 °C |
| Average daily low | 13.1 °C | 5.8 °C | -7.3 °C |
| Annual rainfall | 447 mm | 1,375 mm | +928 mm |
| Sunshine / day | 10.6 h | 8.6 h | -2.0 h |
| Hot days (≥ 30 °C) | 34 d/yr | 4 d/yr | -30 d/yr |
| Frost days (< 0 °C) | 1 d/yr | 76 d/yr | +75 d/yr |
| Rainy days (≥ 1 mm) | 66 d/yr | 171 d/yr | +105 d/yr |
| Mean relative humidity | 69 % | 78 % | +9 % |
| Average peak wind | 16.4 km/h | 9.4 km/h | -7.0 km/h |
A difference is only reported when it exceeds the resolution of the data. ERA5 is a reanalysis on a grid of about 31 km: two nearby cities often fall in the same cell, and below half a degree you are reading the grid, not the climate.