Best time to visit Edinburgh

August is the best month in Edinburgh, scoring 63 out of 100, with January the weakest at 26. The 37-point spread means timing is worth planning around without being decisive. The good window runs May to September — 5 months within ten points of the best.

July is the warmest month at 18 °C and January the coolest at 5.7 °C — a 12.3 °C spread across the year. It never reaches 30 °C in an average year, which takes heat off the list of reasons to avoid any particular month. 28 nights a year dip below freezing.

There is a real wet season here. January, July, August, October and November carry the rain — up to 18 wet days in a month — while February and April drop as low as 12. That 6-day gap is the biggest single difference between a good month and a bad one in Edinburgh, and it moves further than the temperature does.

Daylight swings hard — 17.6 hours at midsummer against 7 at midwinter. That 10.6-hour difference changes how much fits into a day more than the temperature does.

The three strongest months are August, September, July. The one to think twice about is January. Each month below has its own page with rainfall reliability, extremes, daylight and crowd levels.

Edinburgh month by month