Weather in Paris in February

A hard month. February asks something of you. Go in knowing what. Highs sit at 8.3 °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 Paris's year. September is the month that works, and the swing between the two is 49 points, which is a different holiday rather than a slightly better one.

Rain on 11 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 8.3 °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: 12 nights fall below freezing. Across the twenty years measured, the hottest February day reached 18.1 °C and the coldest night fell to -11.9 °C.

February is moderately variable: 10 mm in the driest year against 112 mm in the wettest, around an average of 50 mm. Roughly two Februarys in three land near that average, and the third does something else entirely.

Wind is light at 12.9 km/h, so the temperature on the page is close to the temperature on your skin, and humidity runs at 87%, which at 8.3 °C means damp rather than muggy — the kind of cold that gets into a coat and stays there.

How February sits in the year

The month is on the way up: 1.7 °C warmer than January, and March adds another 3.9 °C. Late in the month feels noticeably different from the start of it, which is worth knowing if the trip is short.

Daylight in February

10.1 hours of daylight, gaining 1.7 hours across the month. That is between Paris's extremes of 16.1 and 8.3 hours, so days are long enough not to constrain the plan.

An inland climate

Despite being inland, the year stays fairly even: 24.4 °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 Paris versus nearby

If Paris is one option among several, the nearby comparison is worth making. Le Havre is close enough to be a coin toss — within a degree on temperature, 2 days more rain. Lille is close enough to be a coin toss — within a degree on temperature, 1 day more rain.

So: February is a compromise. September is 40 points better and is what Paris 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 Paris

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