Warmest places to go from Dublin in December
In December, the warmest well-known place within 15 hours of Dublin is Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt, averaging 20.4 °C across day and night and 9.7 h sun a day, about 9h 18m each way by air. Nowhere on the list is reachable by train within 15 hours in December.
Every city at once, with and without flying: where is hot in December.
The 10 warmest places within 15 hours of Dublin
Ranked on warmth in December alone, among well-known places (a Wikivoyage travel guide and at least 40,000 Wikipedia readers a year), one per area and at most three per country. The carbon is shown, not used to choose: the list further down is the other question, how much warmth each extra kilogram buys.
Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt20.4 °C · 9.7 h sun a day · mostly dry · sea 25.2 °Cair ≈ 9h 18m · 1,017 kg CO₂e return
Hurghada, Egypt19.9 °C · 9.8 h sun a day · mostly dry · sea 24.7 °Cair ≈ 9h 18m · 1,023 kg CO₂e return
Maspalomas, Spain19.7 °C · 9.4 h sun a day · mostly dry · sea 21.9 °Cair ≈ 7h 24m · 741 kg CO₂e return
Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Spain19.1 °C · 9.3 h sun a day · 2.8 mm rain a day · sea 21.9 °Cair ≈ 7h 24m · 731 kg CO₂e return- Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Spain18.9 °C · 9.3 h sun a day · 1.3 mm rain a day · sea 22.2 °Cair ≈ 7h 18m · 725 kg CO₂e return
Aswan, Egypt18.7 °C · 10.1 h sun a day · mostly dryair ≈ 9h 36m · 1,077 kg CO₂e return
Aqaba, Jordan18.0 °C · 9.2 h sun a day · mostly dry · sea 23.5 °Cair ≈ 9h 12m · 994 kg CO₂e return
Agadir, Morocco17.4 °C · 9.1 h sun a day · mostly dry · sea 19.1 °Cair ≈ 6h 54m · 644 kg CO₂e return
Essaouira, Morocco16.4 °C · 9.0 h sun a day · mostly dry · sea 18.4 °Cair ≈ 6h 48m · 614 kg CO₂e return
Ponta Delgada, Portugal15.8 °C · 7.0 h sun a day · 4.1 mm rain a day · sea 19.1 °Cair ≈ 6h 30m · 575 kg CO₂e return
≈ is the model's estimate (air times include getting to and through the airport); ✓ is a rail journey checked against a real timetable, with the date it was checked. Temperatures are historical daily means for 2023–2024, averaged across day and night, so afternoons run warmer.
The low-carbon trade-off
The warmest place you can reach from Dublin in December within 15 hours is Maspalomas, 19.7 °C, costing 741 kg CO₂e return. The lowest-carbon option is Omagh at 39.4 kg — 19× less carbon, for 13.5 degrees less warmth.
Every destination here is on the efficiency frontier: nowhere else this site covers is both warmer in December and lower in carbon. Anything a better option beats outright has been left out.
By rail or ferry By air
| Destination | How | CO₂e return | Temp | Sun/day | Rain/day | Journey |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Omagh, United Kingdom | Air | 39.4 kg | 6.2 °C | 2.3 h | 4.1 mm | 3h 42m |
| Colwyn Bay, United Kingdom | Air | 42.2 kg | 8.1 °C | 2.1 h | 5.3 mm | 3h 42m |
| Newquay, United Kingdom | Air | 84.1 kg | 9.6 °C | 2.8 h | 4.2 mm | 3h 54m |
| A Coruña, Spain | Air | 281 kg | 10.8 °C | 5.8 h | 4.3 mm | 5h |
| Santa Uxia de Ribeira, Spain | Air | 306 kg | 11.7 °C | 6.2 h | 5.3 mm | 5h 6m |
| El Ejido, Spain | Air | 468 kg | 14.1 °C | 8.8 h | 0.4 mm | 6h |
| Roquetas de Mar, Spain | Air | 469 kg | 14.3 °C | 8.9 h | 0.4 mm | 6h |
| Melilla, Spain | Air | 509 kg | 15.2 °C | 8.9 h | 0.4 mm | 6h 12m |
| Essaouira, Morocco | Air | 614 kg | 16.4 °C | 9.0 h | 0.2 mm | 6h 48m |
| Taroudant, Morocco | Air | 642 kg | 17.9 °C | 8.9 h | 0.3 mm | 6h 54m |
| Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Spain | Air | 725 kg | 18.9 °C | 9.3 h | 1.3 mm | 7h 18m |
| Maspalomas, Spain | Air | 741 kg | 19.7 °C | 9.4 h | 0.5 mm | 7h 24m |
Warm is not the same as pleasant, which is why sunshine and rainfall are shown alongside temperature. All three are ERA5 monthly means for 2023–2024.
Where the curve breaks
The frontier is gentle until it isn't. Going from Newquay (84.1 kg, 9.6 °C) to A Coruña (281 kg, 10.8 °C) buys 1.2 °C more warmth for an extra 197 kg — 164 kg of CO₂e per degree. That single step is the most expensive warmth on the whole curve.
The pick of them
OmaghUnited Kingdom39.4 kg CO₂e returngrey and wetMaspalomasSpain741 kg CO₂e returnwarm, bright and dryThe same month, asked differently
December answers differently depending on what you are after, and the lists genuinely diverge: the brightest places are not the hottest, and in summer the useful question stops being where is warm at all.
Where to stay in Maspalomas
Places to stay in Maspalomas, Spain, on a live map. Prices and availability come from Stay22 and its booking partners.
Search places to stay in Maspalomas →Opens the booking search in a new tab. Same partners as the map below.
Affiliate disclosure. A booking made through this map may earn 0xCarbon a commission, at no extra cost to you. It changes nothing above it: the emissions figures come from UK Government conversion factors and are computed before anyone is paid anything.See the method.
Other months from Dublin
December from elsewhere
- Amsterdam
- Barcelona
- Berlin
- Birmingham
- Bristol
- Brussels
- Cardiff
- Copenhagen
- Dublin
- Edinburgh
- Frankfurt
- Glasgow
- Leeds
- Lisbon
- Liverpool
- London
- Madrid
- Manchester
- Milan
- Munich
- Newcastle
- Nottingham
- Oslo
- Paris
- Prague
- Rome
- Sheffield
- Southampton
- Stockholm
- Vienna
- Warsaw
- Zurich
Photo credits
- Omagh: Kenneth Allen, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
- Maspalomas: JUAN RAMON RODRIGUEZ SOSA, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
- Sharm el-Sheikh: Tanya Dedyukhina, CC BY 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
- Hurghada: Marc Ryckaert, CC BY 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
- Las Palmas de Gran Canaria: Bengt Nyman, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
- Aswan: Vyacheslav Argenberg, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
- Aqaba: Sana Janakat, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
- Agadir: Marco Riss, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
- Essaouira: Kayaky, CC BY 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
- Ponta Delgada: Maximilian Schönherr, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Questions
Where is the warmest place to go from Dublin in December?
Maspalomas, Spain, at 19.7 °C. Reaching it emits 741 kg CO₂e return, travelling 7h 24m each way by air (modelled).
Can I get somewhere warm from Dublin in December without flying?
Not within 15 hours. Every destination on this frontier requires flying in December.
How much carbon does a return trip from Dublin to Maspalomas produce?
741 kg CO₂e for one person, return, by air. That uses the UK Government's 2026 conversion factors, including radiative forcing for flights.
Carbon uses UK Government (DESNZ/DEFRA) 2026 conversion factors applied to great-circle distance, with radiative forcing included for flights. Rail journey times are modelled estimates, not timetabled services. Full method · download the data.