Southend-on-Sea climate
Southend-on-Sea is warmest in July, with average highs of 21 °C, and coldest in February, when nights average 3.1 °C. October is the wettest month (72 mm) and March the driest (46 mm). Figures are 1991–2020 climate normals.
Across a full year Southend-on-Sea averages 706 mm of rain, 6 days above 25 °C and 15 days below freezing.
United Kingdom · population 295,310 · 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 3.1 °C
- Driest month March 46 mm
- Wettest month October 72 mm
- Least cloud July 61 % cloud
- Hottest on record July 37 °C
- Coldest on record February -8.5 °C
- Warmest sea August 18 °C
What to expectSouthend-on-Sea through the year
Southend-on-Sea has a clear annual cycle: average daily highs run from 7.6 °C in February to 21 °C in July, a swing of 12 °C in mean temperature across the year.
Counted across a normal year, 6 days a year reach 25 °C, 1 of them reach 30 °C, 15 nights drop below freezing. The warmest reading in the 1991–2020 record is 37 °C, in July.
Rain is spread fairly evenly through the year, from 46 mm in March to 72 mm in October. There is no dry season to aim for.
The sea off Southend-on-Sea is warmest in August at 18 °C and coldest in February at 6.3 °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 | 7.3 °C | 65 mm | 73 % |
| February | 7.6 °C | 53 mm | 71 % |
| March | 9.7 °C | 46 mm | 69 % |
| April | 12.5 °C | 46 mm | 63 % |
| May | 15.6 °C | 53 mm | 64 % |
| June | 18.7 °C | 55 mm | 64 % |
| July | 21.0 °C | 56 mm | 61 % |
| August | 20.9 °C | 62 mm | 62 % |
| September | 18.2 °C | 55 mm | 63 % |
| October | 14.5 °C | 72 mm | 68 % |
| November | 10.4 °C | 71 mm | 72 % |
| December | 7.8 °C | 71 mm | 72 % |
Temperature month by month
| Month | Avg high | Avg low | Mean | Record high | Record low | Days above 25 °C | Days above 30 °C | Days below 0 °C |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 7.3 °C | 3.2 °C | 5.3 °C | 13.9 °C | -4.6 °C | 0 | 0 | 5 |
| February | 7.6 °C | 3.1 °C | 5.3 °C | 16.7 °C | -8.5 °C | 0 | 0 | 5 |
| March | 9.7 °C | 4.3 °C | 6.9 °C | 19.8 °C | -3.2 °C | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| April | 12.5 °C | 6.2 °C | 9.3 °C | 24.2 °C | -2.1 °C | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| May | 15.6 °C | 9.2 °C | 12.4 °C | 27.4 °C | 2.4 °C | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| June | 18.7 °C | 12.1 °C | 15.4 °C | 29.1 °C | 5.3 °C | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| July | 21.0 °C | 14.3 °C | 17.6 °C | 36.8 °C | 9.3 °C | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| August | 20.9 °C | 14.5 °C | 17.6 °C | 34.7 °C | 8.6 °C | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| September | 18.2 °C | 12.4 °C | 15.2 °C | 29.7 °C | 2.9 °C | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| October | 14.5 °C | 9.7 °C | 12.0 °C | 25.3 °C | 1.3 °C | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| November | 10.4 °C | 6.2 °C | 8.3 °C | 17.5 °C | -2.3 °C | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| December | 7.8 °C | 4.0 °C | 5.9 °C | 14.6 °C | -5.0 °C | 0 | 0 | 3 |
Rain, sun and wind month by month
| Month | Rainfall | Wet days | Daylight | Cloud cover | Humidity | Wind | Sea temp |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 65 mm | 13 | 8.3 h/day | 73 % | 85 % | 29 km/h | 7.3 °C |
| February | 53 mm | 11 | 10.0 h/day | 71 % | 82 % | 28 km/h | 6.3 °C |
| March | 46 mm | 10 | 12 h/day | 69 % | 80 % | 26 km/h | 6.9 °C |
| April | 46 mm | 10 | 14 h/day | 63 % | 77 % | 23 km/h | 9.0 °C |
| May | 53 mm | 9 | 16 h/day | 64 % | 75 % | 23 km/h | 11.8 °C |
| June | 55 mm | 10 | 17 h/day | 64 % | 75 % | 22 km/h | 14.8 °C |
| July | 56 mm | 10 | 16 h/day | 61 % | 74 % | 22 km/h | 17.2 °C |
| August | 62 mm | 10 | 15 h/day | 62 % | 75 % | 22 km/h | 18.4 °C |
| September | 55 mm | 10 | 13 h/day | 63 % | 78 % | 23 km/h | 17.1 °C |
| October | 72 mm | 12 | 11 h/day | 68 % | 81 % | 26 km/h | 14.6 °C |
| November | 71 mm | 12 | 8.9 h/day | 72 % | 85 % | 27 km/h | 11.7 °C |
| December | 71 mm | 13 | 7.9 h/day | 72 % | 86 % | 28 km/h | 9.0 °C |
Planning a trip? See the best time to visit Southend-on-Sea.
QuestionsCommon questions about Southend-on-Sea’s climate
When is the best time to visit Southend-on-Sea?
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 March the driest. The month-by-month table above has the full picture.
How hot does Southend-on-Sea get?
In July, the warmest month, daily highs average 21 °C. About 1 days a year pass 30 °C. The highest value in the 1991–2020 record is 37 °C.
How cold does it get in winter?
Nights average 3.1 °C in February, the coldest month. A normal year has 15 nights below freezing.
Which month is wettest in Southend-on-Sea?
October, averaging 72 mm over 12 days with rain. The driest month is March with 46 mm. The year as a whole averages 706 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 Southend-on-Sea 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
- 51.538°, 0.714° (the coordinates the reanalysis values are taken for)
- Dataset version
- era5-1991-2020-scores1.1
- Last processed
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.