Monthly Climate
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Best time to visit Edinburgh

July is the best time to visit Edinburgh for general sightseeing, with average highs of 18 °C and about 13 wet days. The comfortable season runs roughly June to September.

It depends what you are going for

One month rarely wins on everything. These are the best months on each measure taken on its own.

If you want Best month On that measure
Sightseeing and walking July comfort 73/100
A beach holiday August sea 14 °C
The least cloud May 70 % average cloud cover
The least rain April 54 mm
Warmth July 18 °C
Cooler weather January 5.9 °C

Ranked by comfort

# Month Comfort / 100 Avg high Wet days Beach
1 July 73 18 °C 13 16
2 August 72 17 °C 13 18
3 June 66 16 °C 13 10
4 September 66 15 °C 11 13
5 May 55 13 °C 13 5
6 October 48 12 °C 13 4
7 April 44 10 °C 11 8
8 November 33 8.4 °C 13 4
9 March 32 8.1 °C 12 6
10 February 26 6.4 °C 11 8
11 December 23 6.1 °C 13 4
12 January 21 5.9 °C 14 3

For a beach holiday

August scores highest, with a sea temperature of 14 °C and air temperatures around 17 °C. The sea never reaches 20 °C here.

Month Sea Air Sunshine Beach score
January 6.7 °C 5.9 °C 73 % 3
February 5.9 °C 6.4 °C 72 % 8
March 6.1 °C 8.1 °C 73 % 6
April 7.4 °C 10 °C 71 % 8
May 9.5 °C 13 °C 70 % 5
June 12 °C 16 °C 75 % 10
July 14 °C 18 °C 74 % 16
August 14 °C 17 °C 73 % 18
September 13 °C 15 °C 73 % 13
October 12 °C 12 °C 72 % 4
November 9.9 °C 8.4 °C 71 % 4
December 8.1 °C 6.1 °C 73 % 4

When to think twice

January scores lowest with about 14 wet days and highs near 5.9 °C. That does not make it a bad month — it depends entirely on what you are travelling for. The numbers are all here; the judgement is yours.

The full year

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 %

Data sources and method

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

Measured values come from ERA5 reanalysis and are reproduced unchanged. Calculated by us: comfort score, beach score, season boundaries. 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.