Edinburgh Weather by Month: Rain, Temperatures and the Best Time to Go

May to September is the mild stretch, with highs of about 15 to 19 degrees, and May is the sunniest month. April is the driest and October the wettest. Winter is cold rather than extreme, with highs of 7 degrees and short, dull days. Guides most often point to May and September as the best balance of weather and crowds, and August trades good weather for the Fringe.

Roam Edinburgh read 10 best-time-to-visit guides in English. The figures below come from the Met Office, not the guides. They are the 1991 to 2020 averages for the Edinburgh Gogarbank station, from the Met Office’s location-specific long-term averages. A rain day is a day with 1 mm or more. These are averages, so any single day can differ, and you shouldn’t read them as a forecast.

Then see what’s on during your dates. The events page lists festivals and gigs, and the map shows where they are. If you’re planning around the festivals, the festivals guide has the dates.

Edinburgh weather by month

Over the year the Met Office gives an average high of 12.8°C, a low of 5.8°C, 784 mm of rain on 137 days and about 1,363 hours of sunshine. The monthly mean wind speed at 10 metres is highest in February at 9.6 knots and lowest in July at 6.7.

Spring and summer

All 10 guides mention spring or autumn as the quieter seasons, 7 name June to August as the warmest months, and 5 name May and September together.

April is the driest month at 46 mm, and May has the most sunshine at 190 hours, with a high near 15°C. June to August bring the warmest days, with July the warmest at an average high of 19.4°C. The rain doesn’t stop, and August averages 75 mm over 11 rain days. The tradeoff is the crowds, because August is the festival month and eight guides say so.

Autumn

September is the mild end of summer, with a high of 16.9°C and 55 mm of rain. By October the rain rises to 83 mm on 13 days, the wettest month in the table, with highs of 13°C. November is 9.5°C with 6 days of air frost.

Winter

Hogmanay is named by 8 guides, snow by 5 and short winter days by 4.

From December to February, highs are 7 to 7.5°C and lows are 1 to 2°C. December has the least sunshine at 38 hours, and January and December see about 10 days of air frost each. Winter is dull rather than extreme, and it’s the season some visits are built around. Hogmanay runs from 29 December 2026 to 1 January 2027 and Edinburgh’s Christmas from 14 November 2026 to 3 January 2027, both per the organisers.

Sea fog and wind

Six guides mention wind, and the Met Office table agrees that winter is windier, with February the highest average. The table carries no fog figure, so none’s quoted. The photo shows sea fog lying over the Firth of Forth, a reminder that a view can vanish on the wrong day.

What it means for packing

• Waterproofs and layers at any time of year, because rain days run from 9 to 13 a month.
• A warm coat from November to March, and you’ll want gloves in January.
• A plan B indoors for the wettest months, October and December.

Festivals by month

The Edinburgh Festival City page lists these 2027 dates:

The International Festival and the Book Festival have not printed 2027 dates yet. See the festivals guide for how to visit around them, and things to do in Edinburgh for what to do when the weather turns.

Places in this guide

Photos show the actual places, licensed under Creative Commons and credited to their photographers.

Nelson Monument Calton Hill Photo: Dmitry Djouce