Weather in Edinburgh in February

The month to avoid. Of the twelve, February is the one to avoid. Highs sit at 6.1 °C and the day is short; this is an indoors-with-excursions month, not an outdoors-all-day one.

February ranks 10 of 12 — near the bottom of Edinburgh's year. August is the month that works, and the swing between the two is 37 points, which is a different holiday rather than a slightly better one.

Rain on 13 days, 1 of them heavy. Enough to need a plan B, not enough to need a plan around it. Layers, and a genuinely waterproof outer — at 6.1 °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: 7 nights fall below freezing; the day barely swings — 4.4 °C between the overnight low and the afternoon high. Across the twenty years measured, the hottest February day reached 13 °C and the coldest night fell to -4.4 °C, and the wettest single day dropped 33 mm — roughly 55% of the month's rain in one day.

February is statistically steady but not small: the year-to-year variation is modest in relative terms, yet the wettest February on record still delivered 108 mm against 27 mm in the driest. In a month this wet, even a tame spread is a lot of rain in absolute terms — the 60 mm average is a reasonable planning figure, not a promise.

Wind sits around 16.7 km/h — a steady breeze rather than a nuisance, and welcome on the warmer days, and humidity runs at 92%, which at 6.1 °C means damp rather than muggy — the kind of cold that gets into a coat and stays there.

How February sits in the year

Temperatures hold steady either side: 5.7 °C in January, 6.1 here, 7.8 in March. Nothing about the timing within the month matters much.

Daylight in February

9.6 hours of daylight, gaining 2.2 hours across the month. That is between Edinburgh's extremes of 17.6 and 7 hours, so days are long enough not to constrain the plan.

An inland climate

Despite being inland, the year stays fairly even: 16.3 °C between the year's warmest afternoons and coldest nights.

How busy it gets

Off season. The genuine off season: cheapest by a distance, with the caveat that some tours and restaurants close entirely.

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

February in Edinburgh versus nearby

If Edinburgh is one option among several, the nearby comparison is worth making. Glasgow is the weaker option in February — within a degree on temperature, 4 days more rain. Manchester is close enough to be a coin toss — within a degree on temperature, 1 day more rain.

So: February is a compromise. August is 30 points better and is what Edinburgh 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 Edinburgh

See all twelve months in Edinburgh, or where else to go in February.