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Best time to visit Edinburgh

United Kingdom · 55.95°N 3.19°W · monthly climate normals, judged against the Warm preset (mean 14–24 °C57–75 °F, dry or showers)

The best time to visit Edinburgh is July to August, when mean temperatures sit around 14 °C57 °F and rainfall averages 64 mm2.5 in a month.

Rain is spread through the year, 48–80 mm1.9–3.1 in a month, with October the wettest month and April the driest. July is the hottest month at 14 °C57 °F and January the coldest at 3 °C37 °F.

Figures are 30-year monthly averages (WorldClim 2.1 monthly normals 1970–2000) for the 0.25° grid cell at 55.95, -3.19 — a climate guide, not a forecast.

Edinburgh weather by month

Pick the weather you like and every month is judged against it — temperature above the month names, rain below.

Weather you like

mean 14–24 °C57–75 °F, dry or showers

Good time to go for a Warm holiday: July to August.

Open Edinburgh on the interactive map ↗ the same verdict for every place on Earth, any month

▲ Temperature mean , coldest to warmest month
37°JAN722.837°FEB562.240°MAR642.544°APR481.910°49°MAY562.212°54°JUN642.514°57°JUL642.514°57°AUG642.512°53°SEP722.847°OCT803.142°NOV722.838°DEC722.8
▼ Rainfall per month, driest to wettest

Reading the chart. Gold is good: the month fits what you picked. Any other colour names the reason it doesn't — the temperature bar can be too cold or too hot, the rain bar too dry, too rainy or monsoon. A faded gold bar is a half that fits while the other half fails; a gold month name means both fit.

What the verdicts mean. Temperature is the monthly mean, judged against the preset's band (mean 14–24 °C57–75 °F for Warm). Rain is judged by each month's class within Edinburgh's own year rather than raw millimetres: dry under 60 mm2.4 in, showers 60–100 mm2.4–3.9 in, rainy from 100 mm3.9 in and 35 % of the wettest month. Too rainy is a rainy-season month the preset doesn't allow. Monsoon is the heaviest kind of rainy season — 180 mm7.1 in or more (120 mm4.7 in near the yearly peak) in a climate whose wettest month is at least three times its driest — so every monsoon month is rainy season too; the label says which kind. Full rules on the method page.

MonthRain Mean SeasonWarm verdict
January722.8337showerstoo cold
February562.2337drytoo cold
March642.5540showerstoo cold
April481.9744drytoo cold
May562.21049drytoo cold
June642.51254showerstoo cold
July642.51457showersgood
August642.51457showersgood
September722.81253showerstoo cold
October803.1947showerstoo cold
November722.8642showerstoo cold
December722.8438showerstoo cold

When to go to Edinburgh, by holiday type

Looking forRuleMonths that fit
Warmmean 14–24 °C57–75 °F, dry or showersJuly to August
Tropicalmean 24–33 °C75–91 °F, anything but the monsoonno month
Beachmean 24–33 °C75–91 °F, dry or showersno month
Coolmean 0–14 °C32–57 °F, anything but the monsoonSeptember to June
Snowmean below 0 °C32 °F, any rainno month

Is there a rainy season in Edinburgh?

Not really. Rain is spread through the year, 48–80 mm1.9–3.1 in a month, with October the wettest month and April the driest.

July is the hottest month at 14 °C57 °F and January the coldest at 3 °C37 °F. Annual rainfall totals about 784 mm31 in.

Where to go instead when Edinburgh doesn't fit

The nearest destinations that do fit the Warm preset in the months Edinburgh doesn't:

Nearby destinations

distances in — tap a unit to switch.

The interactive map colours the whole world by how it fits your picks in any month, and shows this chart for any place you tap.