The ‘sunniest’ country in Europe that’s not Spain and reaches 26C in May
The sunniest countries in Europe have been revealed and Spain does not top the list, with a more underrated travel destination coming out on top.
Spain is famous for its glorious sunshine - but it's definitely not Europe's hottest holiday hotspot. In fact the popular holiday destination was beaten out by two other, less-visited nations in the continent.
A new map shows which European countries get the highest number of sunny days per year - and while Spain ranks high, it has been beaten by a country that is further away from Britain but just as attractive. Cyprus was revealed to have more than 300 days of sunshine per year in a map created by MCR using data World Weather Online and TimeandDate.com.
Cyprus, along with one other European island, was revealed to receive the most sunny days per year, ever so slightly more than Spain. Cyprus is located in the east Mediterranean Sea, south of Turkey and west of Syria. The country's location is why it gets considerably hot and sunny weather and in May, temperatures can average at around 26C.
Meanwhile, temperatures can get even higher as the months go on and in August, it can get as hot as 29C. Cyprus has been experiencing a significant growth in tourism over the last few years, Statista reports. Popular destinations for tourists in Cyrpus include Paphos, Limassol and Ayia Napa. These spots are known for their scenic beaches, vibrant nightlife and array of things to do for holidaymakers from the UK and around the world.
While Cyprus was named the sunniest country in Europe, it shared the title with one other island nation. Also receiving more than 300 sunny days throughout the year is Malta, a small island country just south of Italy.
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Following Cyprus and Malta is Spain, with an average of 300 sunny days per year. In fourth place is Spain's neighbour, Portugal, which gets 290 days of sunshine every year, data reveals.
Italy and Greece follow suit with 280 sunny days per year. Other european countries that receive a considerable amount of sunshine days per year include Croatia with 250 and France with 230.
Meanwhile, the UK is on the lower end of the scale with just 150 sunny days per year, similar to Ireland, Belgium and Lithuania. In fact, Nordic countries like Norway, Sweden and Finland even get more sunshine than the UK, according to this data.
The country with the smallest number of sunny days per year, unsurprisingly, is Iceland. The island nation in the north Atlantic Ocean gets around 120 sunny days per year.
It takes around four and a half hours to fly to Cyrpus from the UK, while flights to Malta are shorter at just over three hours.
Flights to the popular holiday destination of Paphos in Cyprus are operated by easyJet and go form Bristol, Edinburgh, London Gatwick, London Luton and Manchester.
Package deals for Cyprus holidays are also offered by providers like TUI, who offer flights to both Paphos and Larnaka.
