Helsinki climate

Name: Helsinki
Address: FI

Helsinki is warmest in July, with average highs of 21 °C, and coldest in February, when nights average -7.3 °C. August is the wettest month (76 mm) and April the driest (37 mm). Figures are 1991–2020 climate normals.

Across a full year Helsinki averages 673 mm of rain, 5 days above 25 °C and 132 days below freezing.

Finland · population 658,864 · 1991–2020 normals

Temperature below 0 °C to above 30 °C Rain band height is that month’s share of the wettest month

Warmest month July 21 °C
Coldest month February -7.3 °C
Driest month April 37 mm
Wettest month August 76 mm
Least cloud May 55 % cloud
Hottest on record July 31 °C
Coldest on record January -26 °C
Warmest sea August 17 °C

What to expectHelsinki through the year

Helsinki has a clear annual cycle: average daily highs run from -2.7 °C in February to 21 °C in July, a swing of 23 °C in mean temperature across the year.

Counted across a normal year, 5 days a year reach 25 °C, 0 of them reach 30 °C, 132 nights drop below freezing. The warmest reading in the 1991–2020 record is 31 °C, in July.

Rain is spread fairly evenly through the year, from 37 mm in April to 76 mm in August. There is no dry season to aim for.

The sea off Helsinki is warmest in August at 17 °C and coldest in March at 0.7 °C. Sea temperature lags the air by a month or two, which is why late summer swims warmer than early summer at the same air temperature.

Month by month

Month	Avg high	Rainfall	Cloud
January	-2.0 °C	50 mm	83 %
February	-2.7 °C	42 mm	79 %
March	0.8 °C	37 mm	67 %
April	7.0 °C	37 mm	64 %
May	13.1 °C	44 mm	55 %
June	17.3 °C	71 mm	60 %
July	20.9 °C	75 mm	57 %
August	19.7 °C	76 mm	62 %
September	14.7 °C	58 mm	66 %
October	8.2 °C	63 mm	73 %
November	3.4 °C	63 mm	83 %
December	0.3 °C	57 mm	83 %

Temperature month by month

Month	Avg high	Avg low	Mean	Record high	Record low	Days above 25 °C	Days below 0 °C
January	-2.0 °C	-6.0 °C	-3.9 °C	7.6 °C	-26.4 °C	0	27
February	-2.7 °C	-7.3 °C	-4.8 °C	6.2 °C	-24.6 °C	0	25
March	0.8 °C	-4.7 °C	-1.8 °C	12.5 °C	-19.0 °C	0	27
April	7.0 °C	0.1 °C	3.7 °C	17.6 °C	-11.3 °C	0	14
May	13.1 °C	5.8 °C	9.8 °C	24.5 °C	-4.5 °C	0	1
June	17.3 °C	10.7 °C	14.3 °C	26.7 °C	3.3 °C	0	0
July	20.9 °C	14.4 °C	17.9 °C	31.2 °C	7.7 °C	3	0
August	19.7 °C	13.7 °C	16.8 °C	28.9 °C	6.9 °C	2	0
September	14.7 °C	9.6 °C	12.2 °C	23.7 °C	-0.6 °C	0	0
October	8.2 °C	4.3 °C	6.3 °C	16.0 °C	-8.3 °C	0	4
November	3.4 °C	0.3 °C	2.0 °C	11.7 °C	-15.7 °C	0	13
December	0.3 °C	-3.1 °C	-1.4 °C	9.4 °C	-24.2 °C	0	21

Rain, sun and wind month by month

Month	Rainfall	Wet days	Daylight	Cloud cover	Humidity	Wind	Sea temp
January	50 mm	11	6.7 h/day	83 %	87 %	21 km/h	2.1 °C
February	42 mm	9	9.1 h/day	79 %	87 %	20 km/h	0.8 °C
March	37 mm	8	12 h/day	67 %	83 %	19 km/h	0.7 °C
April	37 mm	8	15 h/day	64 %	76 %	18 km/h	2.2 °C
May	44 mm	9	17 h/day	55 %	70 %	18 km/h	6.2 °C
June	71 mm	11	19 h/day	60 %	72 %	19 km/h	11.4 °C
July	75 mm	12	18 h/day	57 %	74 %	18 km/h	16.1 °C
August	76 mm	12	16 h/day	62 %	77 %	18 km/h	17.2 °C
September	58 mm	10	13 h/day	66 %	81 %	19 km/h	14.4 °C
October	63 mm	11	10 h/day	73 %	84 %	20 km/h	10.3 °C
November	63 mm	12	7.5 h/day	83 %	87 %	21 km/h	7.0 °C
December	57 mm	12	5.9 h/day	83 %	87 %	22 km/h	4.2 °C

How Helsinki compares

The same four figures for nearby destinations, so the numbers above have something to be read against. Summer high is the warmest month's average high; winter low is the coldest month's average low.

Destination	Summer high	Winter low	Rain per year	Days above 25 °C
Helsinki	21 °C	-7.3 °C	673 mm	5
Vantaa · Finland	22 °C	-8.0 °C	672 mm	12
Tallinn · Estonia	21 °C	-6.5 °C	633 mm	11
Turku · Finland	22 °C	-7.3 °C	669 mm	10
Tampere · Finland	21 °C	-8.4 °C	630 mm	9

Where Helsinki ranks

Ranking	Position	Value
The coolest places in Europe in May	23rdof 50	13 °C
The coolest places in Europe in April	25thof 50	7.0 °C
The coolest places in the world in April	31stof 50	7.0 °C
The coolest places in Europe in June	33rdof 50	17 °C
The coolest places in the world in May	35thof 50	13 °C
The coolest places in Europe in September	41stof 50	15 °C

Planning a trip? See the best time to visit Helsinki.

QuestionsCommon questions about Helsinki’s climate

When is the best time to visit Helsinki?

That depends on what you want, so the honest answer is a comparison rather than a single month. June, July, August sit closest to 20 °C on average, July is the warmest month and April the driest. The month-by-month table above has the full picture.

How hot does Helsinki get?

In July, the warmest month, daily highs average 21 °C. About 0 days a year pass 30 °C. The highest value in the 1991–2020 record is 31 °C.

How cold does it get in winter?

Nights average -7.3 °C in February, the coldest month. A normal year has 132 nights below freezing.

Which month is wettest in Helsinki?

August, averaging 76 mm over 12 days with rain. The driest month is April with 37 mm. The year as a whole averages 673 mm.

Are these figures a forecast?

No. They are 1991–2020 climate normals: the average of thirty years, which describes what a month is usually like in Helsinki rather than what any particular week will bring. Individual years can differ substantially from the normal.

Data sources and method

ERA5 / ERA5-Land reanalysis — Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S), ECMWF. Copernicus Licence
Open-Meteo — Open-Meteo.com. CC BY 4.0
NOAA OISST v2.1 — NOAA Physical Sciences Laboratory. Public domain
GeoNames — GeoNames.org. CC BY 4.0

Normal period: 1991–2020
Dataset version: era5-1991-2020-scores1.1
Last processed: 1 August 2026

Measured values come from ERA5 reanalysis and are reproduced unchanged. Calculated by us: monthly rankings, daylight hours, beach and comfort scores. Full formulas are on the methodology page.

Contains modified Copernicus Climate Change Service information 2026. Neither the European Commission nor ECMWF is responsible for any use that may be made of the Copernicus information or data it contains.