Gibraltar weather in May

May in Gibraltar comes in around 23°C — the forum's phrase is warm enough to sunbathe but not so scorching that you cannot comfortably do the Rock, which is rather the point of timing a visit here. Rain is possible but May is usually fine, with only a handful of wet days. The local phenomenon worth knowing is the levanter: a cloud that forms when hot air off Africa rises and condenses against the Rock. It is not a rain cloud, and it typically either burns off by early afternoon or sits for a couple of days — but while it is there, the view from the top is gone.

Regulars name the Levanter directly as this month's defining weather quirk - an easterly wind off the warm Mediterranean that condenses into a visible cloud capping the Rock's east-facing side even as the town below stays dry and humid rather than genuinely wet. Our row backs a real, mixed-bag month, 23.1C over 17.7C nights, with 63.7mm of rain across 7.4 days that regulars describe as coming and going rather than settling in. Regulars call this a good time to visit overall - cooler, less busy, plenty of sunny days - with a jacket for the evenings the standard packing advice. The sea sits at 19.9C. The record: humidity 78 percent, 9.5 hours of sun, a 20.9 kph wind and AQI 54.

September here is barely cooler than August by the board's account - still hot, still a high sun index - and our row gives 26.1C reading as 27C over 20.1C nights with 17.4mm of rain across 2.9 days. The detail worth having is geographical: the sun does not clear the Rock until about half past ten, so the town sits in cool shade for the first hours of the day, which is when to walk it. The beaches are on the eastern side and the sea is 21.8C, warm enough that the changing rooms stay open to the end of the month. A 20.2 kph wind keeps 74 percent humidity from feeling heavy. The record: 11 hours of sun and AQI 56.

April here is genuinely two months in one deck of cards: regulars say it can be shorts and t-shirts or brisk and wet, with a good chance of either. Our row lands at 20.3C reading as 19C in a 23.8 kph wind, over 14.4C nights, with 54.4mm across 7.4 days. The thing this board explains to visitors over and over is the levanter - an easterly that pushes warm African air up the face of the Rock until it condenses into a cap of cloud. It is not rain, it sits on the summit rather than the town, and it either clears by early afternoon or hangs about for a day or two, so the cable car view is a matter of timing. The record: humidity 76 percent, 11.3 hours of sun, a 16.8C sea and AQI 61.

June in Gibraltar gets described as gorgeous and hot in the same breath - around 30C on one regular's account, against our row's 25.9C average high - and the question everyone asks is whether the Rock can be walked in it. The answers are practical: start the ascent as early as you can, both for the temperature and to have the path to yourself; the direct route up from the Elliott takes about 45 minutes if you are fit; and taking a taxi halfway is a sensible way to keep the climbing for the cooler part of the day. The sea is around 18 to 19C in June, cooler than later in the summer but swimmable. The record: 18.9C nights, 1.3 precipitation days, 13.1 hours of sun and a 21 kph wind.