Edinburgh · February · warmth

Warmest places to go from Edinburgh in February

In February, the warmest well-known place within 15 hours of Edinburgh is Maspalomas, Spain, averaging 18.8 °C across day and night and 10.4 h sun a day, about 7h 54m each way by air. Without flying, it is Marseille, France, averaging 9.3 °C across day and night, about 14h 42m each way by train, for about 11× less carbon (72.5 kg CO₂e return against 827 kg).

Every city at once, with and without flying: where is hot in February.

The 10 warmest places within 15 hours of Edinburgh

Ranked on warmth in February 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.

Maspalomas, Spain18.8 °C · 10.4 h sun a day · mostly dry · sea 20.4 °Cair ≈ 7h 54m · 827 kg CO₂e return
Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt18.6 °C · 10.0 h sun a day · mostly dry · sea 23.0 °Cair ≈ 9h 12m · 1,008 kg CO₂e return
Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Spain18.0 °C · 10.1 h sun a day · 1.5 mm rain a day · sea 20.3 °Cair ≈ 7h 48m · 817 kg CO₂e return
Aswan, Egypt17.7 °C · 10.3 h sun a day · mostly dryair ≈ 9h 36m · 1,075 kg CO₂e return
Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Spain17.6 °C · 10.3 h sun a day · mostly dry · sea 20.5 °Cair ≈ 7h 48m · 812 kg CO₂e return
Hurghada, Egypt17.6 °C · 9.9 h sun a day · mostly dry · sea 22.5 °Cair ≈ 9h 18m · 1,016 kg CO₂e return
Agadir, Morocco17.3 °C · 9.1 h sun a day · 2.0 mm rain a day · sea 17.4 °Cair ≈ 7h 18m · 725 kg CO₂e return
Aqaba, Jordan16.4 °C · 9.8 h sun a day · mostly dry · sea 22.1 °Cair ≈ 9h 6m · 981 kg CO₂e return
Essaouira, Morocco15.9 °C · 8.8 h sun a day · 2.3 mm rain a day · sea 17.4 °Cair ≈ 7h 12m · 696 kg CO₂e return
Ponta Delgada, Portugal15.1 °C · 7.9 h sun a day · 5.0 mm rain a day · sea 16.9 °Cair ≈ 7h · 660 kg CO₂e return

Without flying

The warmest places the train reaches within 15 hours. Marseille is 9.3 °C for 72.5 kg — about 11× less carbon than flying to Maspalomas.

Marseille, France9.3 °C · 8.3 h sun a day · 2.0 mm rain a day · sea 13.7 °Crail ≈ 14h 42m · 72.5 kg CO₂e return
Montpellier, France8.6 °C · 7.9 h sun a day · 1.4 mm rain a dayrail ≈ 14h 54m · 70.3 kg CO₂e return
Saint-Nazaire, France8.5 °C · 5.2 h sun a day · 2.4 mm rain a day · sea 9.5 °Crail ≈ 14h 54m · 57.5 kg CO₂e return
Avignon, France8.5 °C · 7.9 h sun a day · 1.7 mm rain a dayrail ≈ 14h 12m · 70.0 kg CO₂e return
Plymouth, United Kingdom8.4 °C · 4.5 h sun a day · 4.7 mm rain a day · sea 10.0 °Crail ≈ 10h 30m · 50.1 kg CO₂e return
Truro, United Kingdom8.2 °C · 4.5 h sun a day · 3.8 mm rain a day · sea 10.1 °Crail ≈ 10h 48m · 51.8 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 Edinburgh in February within 15 hours is Maspalomas, 18.8 °C, costing 827 kg CO₂e return. The lowest-carbon option is Sunderland at 13.1 kg — 63× less carbon, for 12.0 degrees less warmth.

Every destination here is on the efficiency frontier: nowhere else this site covers is both warmer in February and lower in carbon. Anything a better option beats outright has been left out.

Where they are. Solid lines are rail or ferry, dashed are flights, from Edinburgh. Pick one to compare.

By rail or ferry By air

Carbon against warmth, February, departing Edinburgh. Journeys of up to 15 hours each way.

February from Edinburgh — 12 destinations on the frontier, 4 without flying.
Destination	How	CO₂e return	Temp	Sun/day	Rain/day	Journey
Sunderland, United Kingdom	Rail	13.1 kg	6.8 °C	4.8 h	1.7 mm	3h 48m
Colwyn Bay, United Kingdom	Rail	23.9 kg	7.7 °C	4.1 h	2.9 mm	5h 48m
Cherbourg, France	Rail	49.8 kg	8.5 °C	4.6 h	3.0 mm	14h 54m
Marseille, France	Rail	72.5 kg	9.3 °C	8.3 h	2.0 mm	14h 42m
A Coruña, Spain	Air	364 kg	10.6 °C	7.5 h	4.4 mm	5h 24m
Vila do Conde, Portugal	Air	421 kg	11.6 °C	8.5 h	3.9 mm	5h 42m
Alicante, Spain	Air	495 kg	13.0 °C	8.9 h	0.5 mm	6h 6m
Almería, Spain	Air	535 kg	14.1 °C	9.2 h	0.3 mm	6h 18m
Melilla, Spain	Air	578 kg	14.9 °C	9.3 h	1.3 mm	6h 36m
Essaouira, Morocco	Air	696 kg	15.9 °C	8.8 h	2.3 mm	7h 12m
Taroudant, Morocco	Air	721 kg	17.8 °C	8.9 h	1.6 mm	7h 18m
Maspalomas, Spain	Air	827 kg	18.8 °C	10.4 h	0.6 mm	7h 54m

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 Marseille (72.5 kg, 9.3 °C) to A Coruña (364 kg, 10.6 °C) buys 1.3 °C more warmth for an extra 292 kg — 224 kg of CO₂e per degree. That single step is the most expensive warmth on the whole curve.

The pick of them

SunderlandUnited Kingdom13.1 kg CO₂e return6.8 °C · 4.8 h sun · 3h 48m by railcool

MarseilleFrance72.5 kg CO₂e return9.3 °C · 8.3 h sun · 14h 42m by railcold but bright

MaspalomasSpain827 kg CO₂e return18.8 °C · 10.4 h sun · 7h 54m by airwarm, bright and dry

The same month, asked differently

February 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 Edinburgh

February from elsewhere

Photo credits

Sunderland: No machine-readable author provided. The JPS assumed (based on copyright claims)., CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Marseille: kallerna, CC BY-SA 4.0, 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
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
Hurghada: Marc Ryckaert, CC BY 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Agadir: Marco Riss, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Aqaba: Sana Janakat, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Essaouira: Kayaky, CC BY 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Ponta Delgada: Maximilian Schönherr, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Montpellier: Assembled by DePlusJean, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Saint-Nazaire: Pouick44, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Avignon: Jean-Marc Rosier (de/from http://www.cjrosier.com + http://www.gordes-immobilier.com), CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Plymouth: Derek Harper, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Truro: Tim Green, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Questions

Where is the warmest place to go from Edinburgh in February?

Maspalomas, Spain, at 18.8 °C. Reaching it emits 827 kg CO₂e return, travelling 7h 54m each way by air (modelled).

Can I get somewhere warm from Edinburgh in February without flying?

Yes. Marseille reaches 9.3 °C and is reachable by rail or ferry in 14h 42m (modelled), emitting 72.5 kg CO₂e return — though Maspalomas is warmer still, if you fly.

How much carbon does a return trip from Edinburgh to Maspalomas produce?

827 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.