In the middle of the heat wave, when the capital barely manages to drop below 30 ºC in the early morning, there are corners of the Community of Madrid where the night still invites you to sleep under a sheet. According to data from the State Meteorological Agency (AEMET), the early morning of August 12 left in Rascafría a minimum of 15 ºC at five in the morning, a figure that contrasts with the 29.2 ºC recorded at the same time in the observatory of Madrid Retiro.
A thermal oasis in Sierra de Guadarrama
Located at an altitude of more than 1,100 meters and surrounded by the forests of the upper Lozoya valley, Rascafría takes advantage of its mountain climate to offer cool nights even in the most extreme summers. The difference with the city center is so great that at the same time that Madrid suffered the accumulated heat of the asphalt, here the air remained clean and (above all) cold.
This is not a new phenomenon: the high mountain municipalities in the northern highlands often record minimum temperatures well below the regional average, especially in episodes of strong heat, thanks to the altitude, vegetation and the boxed-in nature of their valleys.
Extreme contrasts in the same community
On this occasion, the difference of more than 14 degrees between Rascafría and Madrid Retiro draws an unequal thermal map within the region. While in the center and south the minimum temperatures do not fall below 25 ºC during these days, in the northern mountains people sleep, in some cases, even with a light blanket.
Coldest towns in the Community of Madrid in the early morning of August 12 (2025)
- Rascafría – 15.0 ºC
- Buitrago del Lozoya – 20.4 ºC
- Puerto de Navacerrada – 20.4 ºC
- Rozas de Puerto Real – 20.5 ºC
- Somosierra – 20.6 ºC
- Aranjuez – 21.3 ºC
- Puerto Alto del León – 21.3 ºC
- Alcalá de Henares – 22.6 ºC
- Robledo de Chavela – 22.7 ºC
- Alpedrete – 24.1 ºC
There is also contrast between neighborhoods in Madrid
The thermal contrast is not only between the Sierra and the center: within Madrid there are differences of up to 8.5 °C between neighborhoods. According to a study by the consulting firm Arup, places like Plaza Juan Pujol, in Malasaña, barely have 3% vegetation and can turn into real asphalt slabs during a heat wave. At the opposite extreme, the north of the Casa de Campo, with 89% green coverage, acts as a lung and natural cooler for the city.
Urbanism, building density and average income draw an uneven map where the areas with more shade and soil permeability offer a thermal relief that, on days like these, is quite similar to an urban oasis.