Snow in Mallorca: Serra de Tramuntana, Puig Major and Lluc

1Where it snows in Mallorca: Serra de Tramuntana, Puig Major and Lluc

The Serra de Tramuntana runs for more than 90 kilometres across the north west of Mallorca. Its highest summit is Puig Major at 1,436 m, in the municipality of Escorca. The Lluc monastery sits in the same municipality at around 400 m.

In AEMET's monthly reports the snow almost always appears there. On 7 February 2023 it snowed above 800 m, with up to 25 cm on the summit of Puig Major. For January 2017 AEMET also names Bunyola and Galilea above 200 m and Valldemossa above 400 m.

2When it snows in Mallorca: AEMET's monthly reports

In its monthly reports for the Balearic Islands, AEMET counts the days on which it snowed anywhere in Mallorca and gives the snow level. The reports opened for this page show snow from November to April:

• November 2019: snow on Puig Major on 11, 15 and 16 November, between 1,000 and 1,400 m. According to AEMET, it usually snows on one day in November in the Serra.
• February 2018: 10 snow days, with the snow level around 300 m on 2 of them.
• January 2021: 9 snow days, from 1 to 8 January without a break in the Serra, down to 400 m on 3 January.
• April 2021: 1 snow day on 17 April, from 800 m. According to AEMET, it snows in Mallorca in April about one year in two.
• December 2025: 3 snow days above 1,100 m.
• January 2026: 4 snow days, above 500 m on 7 January and from 800 to 1,300 m on the others.
• February 2026: not a single snow day.

How winter usually goes in Palma is on the pages for January and February.

3Frost in Mallorca's mountains: Lluc and Son Torrella

The two AEMET OpenData stations closest to Puig Major are Escorca, Lluc at 490 m and Escorca, Son Torrella at 842 m, 1.7 km in a straight line from the summit. Neither provides a count of snow days in its monthly values.

What they do measure is frost days, meaning days with a minimum of zero degrees or below. Frost is not snow, but it shows in which months it gets cold enough at altitude. Averages for 2011 to 2025, taken over the months for which AEMET publishes a monthly value (11 to 15 years per month):

Source: AEMET OpenData, monthly values for stations B013X and B684A.

4Snow in Palma de Mallorca and on the coast

At AEMET's Palma Puerto station, 3 m above the sea, the average low is 8.7 °C in January and 8.6 °C in February (averages for 2011 to 2025).

The station's lowest reading from 2011 to 2025 was -0.1 °C on 4 February 2012. That February, according to AEMET, snow fell at sea level in some coastal areas, the Balearic Islands among them. The lowest January reading was 2.5 °C on 17 January 2017, the day AEMET reports snow in Mallorca above 100 m and, locally, snow at sea level that did not settle. Every month is in the climate table, and single days are in the weather calendar.

5The February 2023 snowfall in Mallorca: storm Juliette

AEMET describes the snowfall of 27 and 28 February 2023 in Mallorca as historic. In Santanyí it snowed down to sea level. Drawing on reports from several sources, AEMET estimates the snow depths as follows:

• above 100 m: 4 cm
• above 150 m: 15 cm
• above 800 m: 50 cm to 1 m
• above 1,400 m: 2.5 to 3 m

According to AEMET, many roads had to be closed, especially in the Serra de Tramuntana. Lluc was cut off by road, affecting more than 100 people, and 19 in Sa Calobra. More than 25,000 people in Mallorca were without power for close to 48 hours.

6Snow warnings in Mallorca: when AEMET issues one

Under Annex 1 of the Meteoalerta plan, all five warning zones in Mallorca share the same thresholds for fresh snow in 24 hours: yellow from 2 cm, orange from 5 cm, red from 20 cm. As a general rule AEMET does not issue warnings for snow above 600 m in the Balearic Islands.

For Juliette, AEMET issued red for the Serra de Tramuntana, with more than 40 cm in 24 hours and a snow level from 400 m, at times down to sea level. Current warnings and the other thresholds are on the page weather warnings for Mallorca.

7Snow in the Serra de Tramuntana: the Ma-10 and what to do

The Ma-10 runs from Andratx to Pollença right across the Serra, through Valldemossa, Deià, Sóller and Escorca. The Consell de Mallorca shows closures on its Visor de incidencias. In snow, the Balearic government advises drivers to carry chains and fit them on ice or hard snow, to set off with a full tank and to stay in the car if the storm catches them far from a village. For walks, the Balearic 112 service advises checking the forecast first. Emergency number: 112.