St Helens climate
St Helens is warmest in July, with average highs of 19 °C, and coldest in February, when nights average 2.2 °C. December is the wettest month (99 mm) and April the driest (65 mm). Figures are 1991–2020 climate normals.
Across a full year St Helens averages 959 mm of rain, 3 days above 25 °C and 30 days below freezing.
United Kingdom · population 183,200 · 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 19 °C
- Coldest month February 2.2 °C
- Driest month April 65 mm
- Wettest month December 99 mm
- Least cloud May 67 % cloud
- Hottest on record July 30 °C
- Coldest on record January -8.9 °C
- Warmest sea August 17 °C
What to expectSt Helens through the year
St Helens has a clear annual cycle: average daily highs run from 7.4 °C in February to 19 °C in July, a swing of 11 °C in mean temperature across the year.
Counted across a normal year, 3 days a year reach 25 °C, 0 of them reach 30 °C, 30 nights drop below freezing. The warmest reading in the 1991–2020 record is 30 °C, in July.
Rain is spread fairly evenly through the year, from 65 mm in April to 99 mm in December. There is no dry season to aim for.
The sea off St Helens is warmest in August at 17 °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 | 6.9 °C | 80 mm | 74 % |
| February | 7.4 °C | 69 mm | 73 % |
| March | 9.4 °C | 68 mm | 72 % |
| April | 11.9 °C | 65 mm | 69 % |
| May | 14.9 °C | 67 mm | 67 % |
| June | 17.3 °C | 81 mm | 70 % |
| July | 19.0 °C | 81 mm | 70 % |
| August | 18.7 °C | 88 mm | 71 % |
| September | 16.7 °C | 78 mm | 72 % |
| October | 13.3 °C | 92 mm | 74 % |
| November | 9.6 °C | 92 mm | 75 % |
| December | 7.2 °C | 99 mm | 74 % |
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 | 6.9 °C | 2.5 °C | 4.7 °C | 13.2 °C | -8.9 °C | 0 | 0 | 7 |
| February | 7.4 °C | 2.2 °C | 4.8 °C | 16.0 °C | -7.3 °C | 0 | 0 | 7 |
| March | 9.4 °C | 3.2 °C | 6.3 °C | 17.6 °C | -5.7 °C | 0 | 0 | 4 |
| April | 11.9 °C | 4.8 °C | 8.4 °C | 22.5 °C | -3.4 °C | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| May | 14.9 °C | 7.7 °C | 11.4 °C | 25.8 °C | -0.2 °C | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| June | 17.3 °C | 10.6 °C | 14.1 °C | 28.8 °C | 1.5 °C | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| July | 19.0 °C | 12.6 °C | 15.9 °C | 30.4 °C | 7.0 °C | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| August | 18.7 °C | 12.6 °C | 15.7 °C | 29.2 °C | 6.1 °C | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| September | 16.7 °C | 10.7 °C | 13.7 °C | 24.8 °C | 2.5 °C | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| October | 13.3 °C | 8.1 °C | 10.7 °C | 24.7 °C | -3.0 °C | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| November | 9.6 °C | 5.2 °C | 7.4 °C | 16.9 °C | -4.9 °C | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| December | 7.2 °C | 2.9 °C | 5.1 °C | 14.6 °C | -8.7 °C | 0 | 0 | 7 |
Rain, sun and wind month by month
| Month | Rainfall | Wet days | Daylight | Cloud cover | Humidity | Wind | Sea temp |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 80 mm | 15 | 8.1 h/day | 74 % | 85 % | 26 km/h | 7.2 °C |
| February | 69 mm | 13 | 9.8 h/day | 73 % | 82 % | 25 km/h | 6.3 °C |
| March | 68 mm | 13 | 12 h/day | 72 % | 80 % | 24 km/h | 6.6 °C |
| April | 65 mm | 12 | 14 h/day | 69 % | 77 % | 22 km/h | 8.6 °C |
| May | 67 mm | 13 | 16 h/day | 67 % | 76 % | 21 km/h | 11.2 °C |
| June | 81 mm | 13 | 17 h/day | 70 % | 77 % | 20 km/h | 14.0 °C |
| July | 81 mm | 14 | 17 h/day | 70 % | 78 % | 20 km/h | 16.1 °C |
| August | 88 mm | 15 | 15 h/day | 71 % | 79 % | 20 km/h | 17.0 °C |
| September | 78 mm | 13 | 13 h/day | 72 % | 80 % | 21 km/h | 15.8 °C |
| October | 92 mm | 15 | 11 h/day | 74 % | 82 % | 23 km/h | 13.5 °C |
| November | 92 mm | 16 | 8.6 h/day | 75 % | 85 % | 24 km/h | 11.0 °C |
| December | 99 mm | 15 | 7.5 h/day | 74 % | 86 % | 25 km/h | 8.8 °C |
Where St Helens ranks
| Ranking | Position | Value |
|---|---|---|
| The coolest places in Europe in July | 24thof 50 | 19 °C |
| The coolest places in Europe in June | 32ndof 50 | 17 °C |
| The coolest places in Europe in August | 34thof 50 | 19 °C |
| The coolest places in Europe in May | 49thof 50 | 15 °C |
Planning a trip? See the best time to visit St Helens.
QuestionsCommon questions about St Helens’s climate
When is the best time to visit St Helens?
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 St Helens get?
In July, the warmest month, daily highs average 19 °C. About 0 days a year pass 30 °C. The highest value in the 1991–2020 record is 30 °C.
How cold does it get in winter?
Nights average 2.2 °C in February, the coldest month. A normal year has 30 nights below freezing.
Which month is wettest in St Helens?
December, averaging 99 mm over 15 days with rain. The driest month is April with 65 mm. The year as a whole averages 959 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 St Helens 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
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.