Weather in Wales: Climate, Seasons, and

Average Temperature

Wales has an oceanic climate with Atlantic storms and weather patterns
sweeping across it through most of the year. It is humid with relatively mild
temperatures ranging from the low 40s in the winter to the mid-60s through
the late spring and summer. Though the temperature rarely falls below
freezing, during the day, Wales is also windy. That, combined with damp and
cloudy conditions, can make otherwise moderate temperatures feel bitterly
cold. Nights, throughout the country, can be 20 degrees Fahrenheit colder
than daytime. Fog is also common in Wales. It rolls in along the coast at any
time of year, but it is equally likely to settle—as low hanging clouds—on the
mountain peaks. This can make mountain hikes more challenging than the
mountains’ sizes might lead inexperienced hillwalkers to believe.

Coastal Weather in Wales

Wales is surrounded, on three sides, by water: the Bristol Channel to the
South, the Irish Sea to the west and north. That tends to moderate coastal
weather. Cardiff, on the Bristol Channel, is probably the warmest city in Wales
with August temperatures rising as high as 72 F. The coasts are slightly dryer
and are likely to have more hours of sunshine. But this is just a matter of
degree. During the summer months, when the days are longest, an average of
only six hours of sunlight a day is typical.

Although Wales has beautiful beaches, you really have to be hardy to swim.
Even in August, water temperature in the Bristol Channel, the warmest body
of water around Wales.

Inland Weather in Wales

The higher you get in Wales, the colder and wetter it gets. And as you move
away from the coasts, Wales is quilted with river valleys separated by
increasingly higher hills. The Brecon Beacons in south Wales, are softly rolling
but enormous, windswept hills where winter temperatures below freezing and
snowfalls are not uncommon. Further north, in the inland mountains of
Snowdonia National Park, heavy precipitation can be extreme. One mountain
peak, Crib Goch, may be the wettest place in the entire country with an
astonishing 176 inches of rainfall annually. 2 And on the highest peaks, it snows
a great deal. Mount Snowdon, at 3,560 feet and the highest U.K. mountain
south of Scotland, can experience snowfall from October to May.

Snowfall at lower altitudes is rare, with an average of only 10 days a year with
snow lying on the ground in the south and west Wales. On the other hand, the
mountains of Snowdonia average 30 days a year with snowfall lying on the
ground.

Seasons in Wales
For all practical purposes, Wales really has only two seasons: autumn and
winter when it gradually gets colder, grayer and wetter, and spring and
summer when temperatures can rise into the 70s along the coasts and when
(particularly April through June) it can be a bit dryer.

Autumn and Winter in Wales

In September, temperatures linger in the 60s but fall away rapidly through
October and November into the high 40s. January and February are the
coldest months with temperatures hovering around freezing or slightly above
in higher areas and in the high 40s along the coast. Temperatures at night are
usually 10 to as much as 15 degrees Fahrenheit colder depending on where you
are in the country.

October through January are the wettest months. Rain tends to fall in short,
sharp and very heavy showers. November is particularly squally with rain
accompanied by gusty winds.

Spring and Summer in Wales

March is unpredictable. Some years, the weather begins to warm up while at
other times there’s not much to distinguish March from February. In April and
May, the highest temperatures are in the mid-50s, rising to the mid-60s for
June, July, and August. On the south coast, along the Bristol Channel,
temperatures are warmer—reaching the mid-70s in July and August.
 In terms of rain, April through July are the driest months with average rainfall
of less than four inches for those months in central Wales. In south coastal
Wales, rainfall from April through June is slightly less, averaging about 2.8
inches per month.

Fast Climate Facts1

 Hottest Month: July (70 F / 21 C)

 Coldest Month: February (35 F / 1.6 C)
 Wettest Month: October (5 inches)