Flores in winter: weather, flight cancellations and what stays open

Flores between November and March is mild, wet and dark early. A winter trip works, but the season changes things you would take for granted in summer: whether your flight leaves on the day it is booked, whether the trail you came for is safe to walk, and which doors are open on a Saturday. If you plan for those, a winter week on Flores is a good one. If you don't, a single storm can cost you a connection home.

Flores is a wet island, with about 1,640 mm of rain a year at the airport, and about two thirds of it falls between October and March. The official 1991-2020 normals for Flores Airport, in Santa Cruz, give this picture:

• November: average high 19.4 °C, low 14.9 °C, about 154 mm of rain over roughly 15 rainy days
• December: 17.9 °C and 13.3 °C, about 218 mm, the wettest month, rain on about 18 or 19 days
• January: 17.1 °C and 12.5 °C, about 192 mm, rain on about 18 days
• February: 16.9 °C and 12.0 °C, about 159 mm, the coolest month on average
• March: 17.2 °C and 12.4 °C, about 166 mm

It doesn't get cold. Even in February the average low at sea level stays around 12 °C, and the January record high at the airport is 21.1 °C. What you notice is the rain and the short days. December averages about 65 hours of sunshine for the whole month, against more than 200 in July. On 21 December 2026 the sun rises over Santa Cruz at about 08:19 local time and sets at about 17:45, which leaves less than nine and a half hours of daylight. Humidity sits around 80 percent all year.

Up on the central plateau, where the crater lakes are, the official page for the PR03FLO trail warns of rain and fog. Pack a proper waterproof, not a light shell, and shoes that can get wet.

There is no ferry from the other islands to Flores, so in winter you arrive and leave by SATA Air Açores turboprop. Across the airline's whole network, 1,351 flights were cancelled between May 2025 and April 2026, and 57 percent of them for weather. Counting knock-on cancellations caused by weather, the share reached 68 percent.

What a cancellation looks like in practice: when Depression Therese crossed the Azores in March 2026, with gusts of up to 95 km/h in the western group, passengers were rebooked onto flights over the following two days, weather permitting. So in winter, build in at least one spare day before any international flight, and two if the connection is expensive to lose. Do not cancel early on your own because the forecast looks bad: if the airline cancels, EU Regulation 261/2004 gives you a right to assistance, but if you change the flight yourself, it counts as a voluntary change and that right falls away.

For schedules, routes and how many days to give the island overall, see getting to Flores.

Hurricane Lorenzo passed on 2 October 2019, with gusts of 145 km/h recorded on Flores and 163 km/h on neighbouring Corvo. At Lajes das Flores, the island's commercial port, it swept away the port building and some containers and damaged the dock. A new port is being built over five years, from 2025 to 2030.

The island still depends on cargo ships. In March 2023, a month after the last regular ship had called, supermarkets in Flores ran short of bread, milk and flour. Bring any medicine you need with you, and don't count on one particular product being on the shelf.

All that rain feeds the waterfalls, and the trails stay open in winter. On 1 October 2026 the official register listed one Flores trail as temporarily closed: PR01FLO, Ponta Delgada to Fajã Grande. Closures change, so check trails.visitazores.com on the morning you walk, not the week before.

The official trail pages carry warnings that matter more in winter. The paths are slippery after rain. The PR03FLO route, from the lakes down to Poço do Bacalhau, starts high on the plateau, where rain and fog are common, and in fog you have to follow the waymarks closely. Streams on the Grande Rota can rise suddenly after heavy rain. With barely nine and a half hours of light in December, start early and pick the shorter routes. Our guide to hiking on Flores covers each route and how to get back to your car.

The Atlantic around Flores is at its coldest from January to April, at about 16 °C. It is still about 19 °C in November and 17 °C in December. If you do go in, nobody is watching the water: the Altio natural pools in Santa Cruz are a monitored bathing area only from mid-June to mid-September, and the bathing area at Fajã Grande only in July and August. On the west coast, the swell decides whether going in is safe at all.

The small boat to Corvo runs all year, but less often in winter. In the weeks of the 2026 Atlânticoline timetable sampled for late October, early November and late December, it sailed from Santa Cruz on Tuesdays and Saturdays only, at 10:00 and 17:00, with 12 seats. The crossing depends on the sea, so a booked seat is not a guaranteed trip. Check the current timetable and have a back-up day.

Flores does not close in winter, but it does go to weekday hours.

• The Boqueirão Environmental Interpretation Centre in Santa Cruz, set in the old oil tanks of the whaling factory, opens every day from April to October. From 1 November to 31 March it opens Monday to Friday, 09:00 to 12:30 and 13:30 to 17:00, is closed at weekends, and may close in bad weather.
• The Museu das Flores, in the former Franciscan convent of São Boaventura in Santa Cruz, opens on weekdays and closes at weekends and on public holidays. Phone +351 292 592 159 to confirm before you go.
• Public buses run Monday to Friday only, all year. The summer line from Santa Cruz to Fajã Grande runs only in July and August, and another line runs only in school term. In winter you will want a hire car.
• Restaurants keep their own days. The island's tourism directory lists phone numbers but no opening hours, so call ahead, especially on Sundays and especially in the smaller villages.

If you are staying somewhere small, confirm a few weeks before arrival that it is open for your dates, and ask where the nearest place for dinner will be open that week.

Winter on Flores suits walkers who do not mind getting wet, photographers who like waterfalls after rain and low cloud on the cliffs, and anyone who wants a quiet island. It does not suit a tight itinerary, a beach holiday or a trip where Flores is the last stop before a long-haul flight. If you want swimming and long days, go between July and September. If you want quiet with less rain, May, June and September are drier.

Is Flores worth visiting in winter?

Yes, if you want waterfalls, walking and quiet, and you can be flexible by a day or two. Average highs stay between about 17 and 19 °C, but December brings about 218 mm of rain and only about 65 hours of sunshine.

How likely is my flight to be cancelled in winter?

There is no published figure for Flores alone, but across SATA Air Açores, weather caused or contributed to 68 percent of cancellations between May 2025 and April 2026. After the March 2026 storm, passengers were rebooked within two days. Plan a spare day.

Can you swim on Flores in winter?

The sea is about 16 to 19 °C between November and April, and there are no lifeguards outside the summer bathing season. Only swim on a calm day and never alone.

Does the boat to Corvo run in winter?

Yes. In the 2026 weeks sampled, it sailed on Tuesdays and Saturdays from late October to late December, weather permitting. Check the Atlânticoline timetable for your dates.