Updated 19 September 2026
The Canary Islands are warm enough to swim comfortably in either month, and Cyprus, Madeira, Malta and southern Spain go from patchy in March to pleasant in April, often within a few weeks of each other. Western Easter falls on 28 March 2027, so below also covers what the Easter weekend itself and the longer school Easter holiday each do to which dates are worth booking.
When Easter falls in 2027, and why that matters
Western Easter Sunday is 28 March 2027: Good Friday 26 March, Easter Monday 29 March, both UK bank holidays. But the school Easter holiday most families travel around is longer than that one weekend: two English councils already checked for February half-term 2027 publish their 2026/27 Easter break starting on Good Friday itself and running for roughly two and a half weeks. Wakefield has the holiday running 26 March to 12 April 2027 (back to school that Monday), and Sandwell publishes 26 March to 9 April 2027, term resuming the following Monday.
This is what gov.uk’s own bank holidays feed and two council pages said when checked on 19 September 2026. School Easter holidays are set locally, the same as February half-term, so check your own council or school before booking. A trip tied to the Easter bank holiday itself (Fri 26 – Mon 29 March) is a fixed four days; a trip that uses the wider school holiday can run into early April instead, which is exactly where the March-versus-April comparison below starts to matter.
March versus April, the real difference
April is warmer and drier than March almost everywhere below, sometimes by a wide margin. Larnaca goes from a cool, showery 18.7°C in March to 24.0°C in April; Seville goes from a wet 20.7°C (116mm of rain) to a dry, properly warm 25.2°C (21mm). The Canary Islands barely move, because they are already warm in March.
| Destination | Mar high | Mar rain | Apr high | Apr rain |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tenerife | 22.0°C | 10mm | 22.8°C | 5mm |
| Seville | 20.7°C | 116mm | 25.2°C | 21mm |
| Larnaca | 18.7°C | 22mm | 24.0°C | 23mm |
| Funchal, Madeira | 17.3°C | 95mm | 18.8°C | 58mm |
| St Julian’s, Malta | 17.1°C | 31mm | 19.0°C | 22mm |
These are multi-year historical averages. They are not a forecast, and not a standard 30-year climate normal either, just the shape of a typical March or April. Your own dates could still land differently. This site holds no sea-temperature data, so no swimming-temperature figure is given here. As general guidance, the sea is cold for most people in either month across all five of these, Tenerife included. A March or April trip here is a warm-air, walkable-city or poolside trip more than a swimming one, and gets closer to swimming weather as April moves toward May.
Guaranteed warmth in the Canary Islands
If the only requirement is real warmth on the day you land, Tenerife is the one destination here that barely cares whether you go in March or April.
Tenerife
The only destination here that is already reliably warm in March, so it is the safe pick if your dates are fixed to the Easter bank holiday itself rather than the wider school break. Our recent fares show a nonstop route from Stansted, including an April 2027 departure specifically. The destination’s own trip-length note asks for five nights or more to cover both coasts and Teide, which suits the longer school-holiday window better than the four-day Easter weekend alone.
Recent nonstop fares from Heathrow, Gatwick, Stansted and Manchester
Warm and walkable once April arrives
These three are the ones where the March-to-April jump changes the trip: patchy and best avoided in early March, pleasant for walking, a promenade or a coastal town by mid-to-late April.
Larnaca
The biggest March-to-April jump on this list: 18.7°C and showery in March, 24.0°C and reliably dry by April. Booking for the later end of the school Easter holiday rather than the bank-holiday weekend itself is the difference between a mild, unsettled trip and a warm one.
Recent nonstop fares from Heathrow and Gatwick
Funchal (Madeira)
Milder than Larnaca in either month and one of the wetter picks here, but our recent fares show a nonstop route from Gatwick, including a March 2027 departure specifically: useful if your dates are fixed to the Easter weekend itself and Tenerife’s longer trip-length note does not fit. Pack for showers even in April.
Recent nonstop fares from Gatwick and Stansted
St Julian’s
The driest of the three by April (22mm) and a shorter flight than Larnaca or Tenerife. This early it suits restaurants and coastal walks around Spinola Bay more than actual beach weather, with similar daytime highs to Madeira but noticeably less rain.
Recent nonstop fares from Heathrow, Gatwick and Stansted
Seville, a city with sun
A city break, and the clearest case here for waiting for April specifically.
Seville
March here is wet (116mm, more rain than any other pick here); April flips to 25.2°C and largely dry: the biggest single reason to favour the later end of the school Easter holiday over the bank-holiday weekend itself for this one. Easter week (Semana Santa) is also Seville’s single busiest week of the year for processions, crowds and room availability, so a city break booked for the Easter weekend itself will be a different, much fuller trip than the same city a week or two either side.
Recent nonstop fares from Heathrow, Gatwick and Stansted
Two ways to use the same window
- A 4-night Easter weekend break: fly out Thursday 25 or Friday 26 March, back Monday 29 March. Fits the bank holiday alone without touching annual leave, and Tenerife or Funchal (both with real nonstop evidence for exactly this window) suit it better than Larnaca or Seville, which are still cool or wet that early.
- A week using the school Easter holiday: depart in the first days of April, back before term resumes (9-12 April on the two councils checked above). This is where Larnaca and Seville earn their place, once the data turns warm and dry.
Booking timing
The Easter bank holiday weekend itself, and the first week of the school holiday behind it, are the most in-demand dates in this whole window. Fares and rooms are priced accordingly, and Seville’s Semana Santa crowds make that city’s Easter week the sharpest example here. As general guidance, the weeks either side of Easter are usually calmer and less booked-up than the holiday itself, without giving up much of the spring-sun case above, worth considering if your own dates have any flexibility at all.
For the wider Nov-Mar winter-sun comparison this narrows down from, see winter sun compared. If your dates are fixed to February half-term instead of Easter, February half-term 2027 covers that fortnight specifically. For a shorter city-only trip that does not need a full week, weekend city breaks from UK airports covers what fits a Friday-to-Monday from Stansted, Manchester, Gatwick or Heathrow.
Next steps
Related guides
- Winter sun compared: Canaries, Cyprus, Malta — Canary Islands, Madeira, Cyprus, Malta and the Algarve, compared on real climate averages and flight time.
- February half-term 2027 from the UK — Which February half-term dates apply where, and how to choose between sun, a city break and a short winter break, with real flight times.
- Weekend city breaks from Stansted & Manchester — Which city fits a Friday-to-Monday trip, grouped by whether Stansted, Manchester, Gatwick or Heathrow gets you there fastest.