The warmest days in summer occur when hot, dry air is drawn out from the Sahara desert and reaches as far as the islands. This air may sometimes be laden with fine dust particles blown from the desert. However, it reaches the islands with a raised relative humidity and lower temperatures after its passage across the cool ocean water.

The weather may be disturbed for a few days at a time in winter under the influence of an Atlantic depression, but such stormy and wet periods are not frequent.

Daily sunshine hours range from an average of six in winter to as many as eleven in the summer months.