Weather in Bergen in December

The month to avoid. Of the twelve, December is the one to avoid. Highs sit at 2.8 °C and the day is short; this is an indoors-with-excursions month, not an outdoors-all-day one.

December ranks 9 of 12 in Bergen: past the worst of the year but short of July, which is the month to book if the dates are open.

Rain on 23 of the month's 31 days, 11 of them heavy. At that frequency a wet-weather backup is not a contingency, it is the itinerary — book the indoor things first and treat the clear days as the bonus. Layers, and a genuinely waterproof outer — at 2.8 °C the difference between a good day and a miserable one is entirely down to what you are wearing.

What the averages hide

Averages flatten a month, and this one hides a few things: 15 nights fall below freezing; the day barely swings — 3.4 °C between the overnight low and the afternoon high. Across the twenty years measured, the hottest December day reached 9.8 °C and the coldest night fell to -17.2 °C, and the wettest single day dropped 88 mm — roughly 28% of the month's rain in one day.

December is moderately variable: 78 mm in the driest year against 544 mm in the wettest, around an average of 319 mm. Roughly two Decembers in three land near that average, and the third does something else entirely.

Wind is light at 6.2 km/h, so the temperature on the page is close to the temperature on your skin, and humidity runs at 95%, which at 2.8 °C means damp rather than muggy — the kind of cold that gets into a coat and stays there.

How December sits in the year

Temperatures hold steady either side: 5.5 °C in November, 2.8 here, 1.7 in January. Nothing about the timing within the month matters much.

Daylight in December

December sits at the dark end of Bergen's year — 5.8 hours of daylight against 19 at midsummer, losing 0.6 hours across the month. Sightseeing days are genuinely shorter, and an itinerary built for summer will not fit.

An inland climate

Despite being inland, the year stays fairly even: 21.8 °C between the year's warmest afternoons and coldest nights.

How busy it gets

Quiet. Few other visitors, cheaper rooms, and a real chance some seasonal operators are shut.

Crowd levels are estimated from climate desirability and school-holiday calendars, not from visitor numbers.

December in Bergen versus nearby

If Bergen is one option among several, the nearby comparison is worth making. Stavanger is close enough to be a coin toss — 2.4 °C warmer, 1 day less rain. Kristiansand is close enough to be a coin toss — 2.6 °C warmer, 5 days less rain.

So: December is a compromise. July is 48 points better and is what Bergen is actually like at its best — worth moving the trip for if that is possible, and worth adjusting expectations for if it is not.

Every month in Bergen

See all twelve months in Bergen, or where else to go in December.