Soil salinization is becoming more and more serious in cultivated land in China, which poses a major threat to China’s food security．Identifying novel genes conferring salt tolerance and understanding their functions in salt stress adaptation are vitally important for improving crop stress tolerance. The late embryogenesis abundant (LEA) proteins, usually encoded by a multigene family in higher plants, play a positive role in plant response to abiotic stress. We have previously shown that overexpression of TaLEA1, originally isolated in wheat, conferred salt and drought tolerance in Arabidopsis. In this study, we isolated TaLEA2 gene from wheat, analyzed the physical and chemical properties of its deduced protein, determined its expression pattern and promoter region, and examined its function through overexpression in Arabidopsis. Furthermore, we report the effects of simultaneous overexpression of TaLEA1 and TaLEA2 genes in transgenic Arabidopsis. The results showed that TaLEA2 belonged to the third group of LEA proteins. TaLEA2 was likely a stable hydrophilic protein and rich in α-helix and β-turn, thus providing a structural basis for its function in stress tolerance. TaLEA2 expression was detected in wheat root, stem, leaf, flower and seed tissues, and up-regulated by high salt treatment. Overexpression of TaLEA2 alone, or TaLEA1 and TaLEA2 simultaneously, conferred salt and drought tolerance in Arabidopsis, with the tranegenic lines exhibiting higher seed germination rate, longer root length and higher chlorophyll content than the wild type (WT) controls. More importantly, the double overexpressors displayed a higher level of stress tolerance than single overexpressors and WT controls. This study generated valuable information on the function of wheat LEA genes in salt and drought stress, which may facilitate the deployment of these genes in enhancing crop tolerance to abiotic stresses in the future.