Wellington climate

Name: Wellington
Address: NZ

Wellington is warmest in February, with average highs of 19 °C, and coldest in July, when nights average 8.7 °C. June is the wettest month (91 mm) and January the driest (57 mm). Figures are 1991–2020 climate normals.

Across a full year Wellington averages 888 mm of rain and 0 days above 25 °C.

New Zealand · population 381,900 · 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 February 19 °C
Coldest month July 8.7 °C
Driest month January 57 mm
Wettest month June 91 mm
Least cloud February 53 % cloud
Hottest on record January 26 °C
Coldest on record July 2.2 °C
Warmest sea February 17 °C

What to expectWellington through the year

Wellington has a clear annual cycle: average daily highs run from 11 °C in July to 19 °C in February, a swing of 6.7 °C in mean temperature across the year.

Counted across a normal year, 0 days a year reach 25 °C. The warmest reading in the 1991–2020 record is 26 °C, in January.

Rain is spread fairly evenly through the year, from 57 mm in January to 91 mm in June. There is no dry season to aim for.

The sea off Wellington is warmest in February at 17 °C and coldest in August at 12 °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	18.2 °C	57 mm	56 %
February	18.6 °C	58 mm	53 %
March	17.5 °C	62 mm	54 %
April	15.6 °C	72 mm	58 %
May	14.0 °C	71 mm	57 %
June	12.2 °C	91 mm	60 %
July	11.3 °C	85 mm	60 %
August	11.6 °C	83 mm	59 %
September	12.6 °C	78 mm	58 %
October	13.8 °C	90 mm	59 %
November	15.1 °C	75 mm	58 %
December	16.9 °C	68 mm	61 %

Temperature month by month

Month	Avg high	Avg low	Mean	Record high	Record low
January	18.2 °C	14.9 °C	16.4 °C	26.2 °C	8.9 °C
February	18.6 °C	15.2 °C	16.7 °C	23.3 °C	9.4 °C
March	17.5 °C	14.1 °C	15.6 °C	22.9 °C	8.5 °C
April	15.6 °C	12.6 °C	14.0 °C	20.4 °C	6.6 °C
May	14.0 °C	11.2 °C	12.5 °C	18.6 °C	5.0 °C
June	12.2 °C	9.5 °C	10.8 °C	16.4 °C	3.0 °C
July	11.3 °C	8.7 °C	10.0 °C	15.9 °C	2.2 °C
August	11.6 °C	8.8 °C	10.1 °C	15.5 °C	2.3 °C
September	12.6 °C	9.6 °C	11.0 °C	16.0 °C	3.1 °C
October	13.8 °C	10.6 °C	12.1 °C	18.9 °C	4.1 °C
November	15.1 °C	11.8 °C	13.2 °C	21.2 °C	5.4 °C
December	16.9 °C	13.6 °C	15.1 °C	23.6 °C	7.0 °C

Rain, sun and wind month by month

Month	Rainfall	Wet days	Daylight	Cloud cover	Humidity	Wind	Sea temp
January	57 mm	8	15 h/day	56 %	79 %	31 km/h	15.9 °C
February	58 mm	7	14 h/day	53 %	79 %	29 km/h	16.6 °C
March	62 mm	8	12 h/day	54 %	79 %	29 km/h	16.1 °C
April	72 mm	9	11 h/day	58 %	79 %	29 km/h	15.1 °C
May	71 mm	10	9.8 h/day	57 %	78 %	29 km/h	14.2 °C
June	91 mm	12	9.2 h/day	60 %	77 %	29 km/h	12.9 °C
July	85 mm	12	9.5 h/day	60 %	77 %	28 km/h	12.2 °C
August	83 mm	13	10 h/day	59 %	78 %	29 km/h	12.0 °C
September	78 mm	11	12 h/day	58 %	78 %	31 km/h	12.3 °C
October	90 mm	12	13 h/day	59 %	78 %	33 km/h	12.9 °C
November	75 mm	10	14 h/day	58 %	77 %	33 km/h	13.8 °C
December	68 mm	10	15 h/day	61 %	79 %	31 km/h	14.9 °C

How Wellington 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
Wellington	19 °C	8.7 °C	888 mm	0
Christchurch · New Zealand	22 °C	2.6 °C	624 mm	19
Hamilton · New Zealand	23 °C	5.6 °C	1,172 mm	13
Tauranga · New Zealand	22 °C	7.8 °C	1,339 mm	4

Where Wellington ranks

Ranking	Position	Value
The coolest places in the world in August	9th of 50	12 °C
The coolest places in the world in July	9th of 50	11 °C
The coolest places in the world in June	13th of 50	12 °C
The coolest places in the world in September	20th of 50	13 °C
The coolest places in the world in May	47th of 50	14 °C

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

QuestionsCommon questions about Wellington’s climate

When is the best time to visit Wellington?

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

How hot does Wellington get?

In February, the warmest month, daily highs average 19 °C. The highest value in the 1991–2020 record is 26 °C.

How cold does it get in winter?

Nights average 8.7 °C in July, the coldest month. Freezing nights are not part of a normal year here.

Which month is wettest in Wellington?

June, averaging 91 mm over 12 days with rain. The driest month is January with 57 mm. The year as a whole averages 888 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 Wellington 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
Data point: -41.287°, 174.776° (the coordinates the reanalysis values are taken for)
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.