Edinburgh climate

Name: Edinburgh
Address: GB

Edinburgh is warmest in July, with average highs of 18 °C, and coldest in February, when nights average 1.8 °C. October is the wettest month (81 mm) and April the driest (54 mm). Figures are 1991–2020 climate normals.

Across a full year Edinburgh averages 817 mm of rain, 1 days above 25 °C and 35 days below freezing.

United Kingdom · population 514,990 · 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 18 °C
Coldest month February 1.8 °C
Driest month April 54 mm
Wettest month October 81 mm
Least cloud May 70 % cloud
Hottest on record July 29 °C
Coldest on record March -12 °C
Warmest sea August 14 °C

What to expectEdinburgh through the year

Edinburgh has a clear annual cycle: average daily highs run from 6.4 °C in February to 18 °C in July, a swing of 11 °C in mean temperature across the year.

Counted across a normal year, 1 days a year reach 25 °C, 35 nights drop below freezing. The warmest reading in the 1991–2020 record is 29 °C, in July.

Rain is spread fairly evenly through the year, from 54 mm in April to 81 mm in October. There is no dry season to aim for.

The sea off Edinburgh is warmest in August at 14 °C and coldest in February at 5.9 °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	5.9 °C	74 mm	73 %
February	6.4 °C	62 mm	72 %
March	8.1 °C	60 mm	73 %
April	10.5 °C	54 mm	71 %
May	13.3 °C	57 mm	70 %
June	15.8 °C	68 mm	75 %
July	17.7 °C	73 mm	74 %
August	17.4 °C	77 mm	73 %
September	15.3 °C	61 mm	73 %
October	11.8 °C	81 mm	72 %
November	8.4 °C	73 mm	71 %
December	6.1 °C	77 mm	73 %

Temperature month by month

Month	Avg high	Avg low	Mean	Record high	Record low	Days below 0 °C
January	5.9 °C	1.9 °C	3.9 °C	13.4 °C	-10.3 °C	8
February	6.4 °C	1.8 °C	4.1 °C	14.5 °C	-11.1 °C	8
March	8.1 °C	2.6 °C	5.3 °C	18.3 °C	-11.9 °C	6
April	10.5 °C	4.1 °C	7.3 °C	20.1 °C	-3.4 °C	2
May	13.3 °C	6.7 °C	10.0 °C	25.1 °C	-0.9 °C	0
June	15.8 °C	9.6 °C	12.8 °C	24.6 °C	2.5 °C	0
July	17.7 °C	11.5 °C	14.7 °C	28.8 °C	4.8 °C	0
August	17.4 °C	11.4 °C	14.4 °C	27.0 °C	4.5 °C	0
September	15.3 °C	9.7 °C	12.4 °C	23.6 °C	1.4 °C	0
October	11.8 °C	7.1 °C	9.4 °C	19.0 °C	-2.8 °C	0
November	8.4 °C	4.2 °C	6.3 °C	15.2 °C	-3.9 °C	3
December	6.1 °C	2.1 °C	4.1 °C	13.7 °C	-11.7 °C	8

Rain, sun and wind month by month

Month	Rainfall	Wet days	Daylight	Cloud cover	Humidity	Wind	Sea temp
January	74 mm	14	7.6 h/day	73 %	86 %	25 km/h	6.7 °C
February	62 mm	11	9.6 h/day	72 %	83 %	25 km/h	5.9 °C
March	60 mm	12	12 h/day	73 %	81 %	24 km/h	6.1 °C
April	54 mm	11	14 h/day	71 %	79 %	22 km/h	7.4 °C
May	57 mm	13	16 h/day	70 %	78 %	21 km/h	9.5 °C
June	68 mm	13	18 h/day	75 %	78 %	20 km/h	11.9 °C
July	73 mm	13	17 h/day	74 %	79 %	19 km/h	13.9 °C
August	77 mm	13	15 h/day	73 %	81 %	19 km/h	14.4 °C
September	61 mm	11	13 h/day	73 %	82 %	21 km/h	13.3 °C
October	81 mm	13	10 h/day	72 %	84 %	23 km/h	11.8 °C
November	73 mm	13	8.3 h/day	71 %	86 %	23 km/h	9.9 °C
December	77 mm	13	7.0 h/day	73 %	87 %	24 km/h	8.1 °C

How Edinburgh 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
Edinburgh	18 °C	1.8 °C	817 mm	1
Glasgow · United Kingdom	18 °C	1.3 °C	1,164 mm	1
Newcastle upon Tyne · United Kingdom	19 °C	2.0 °C	684 mm	1
Aberdeen · United Kingdom	16 °C	3.0 °C	774 mm	0

Where Edinburgh ranks

Ranking	Position	Value
The coolest places in Europe in July	13th of 50	18 °C
The coolest places in Europe in June	15th of 50	16 °C
The coolest places in Europe in August	16th of 50	17 °C
The coolest places in Europe in May	24th of 50	13 °C
The coolest places in the world in May	36th of 50	13 °C

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

QuestionsCommon questions about Edinburgh’s climate

When is the best time to visit Edinburgh?

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 Edinburgh get?

In July, the warmest month, daily highs average 18 °C. The highest value in the 1991–2020 record is 29 °C.

How cold does it get in winter?

Nights average 1.8 °C in February, the coldest month. A normal year has 35 nights below freezing.

Which month is wettest in Edinburgh?

October, averaging 81 mm over 13 days with rain. The driest month is April with 54 mm. The year as a whole averages 817 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 Edinburgh 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: 55.952°, -3.196° (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.