Weather in Swansea in November

A hard month. November asks something of you. Go in knowing what. You should expect rain on 19 days of the month, which is more days wet than dry.

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

Rain on 19 days, 4 of them heavy. Enough to need a plan B, not enough to need a plan around it. Layers, and a genuinely waterproof outer — at 11.2 °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: the day barely swings — 3.4 °C between the overnight low and the afternoon high. Across the twenty years measured, the hottest November day reached 17 °C and the coldest night fell to -0.6 °C, and the wettest single day dropped 30 mm — roughly 25% of the month's rain in one day.

November is statistically steady but not small: the year-to-year variation is modest in relative terms, yet the wettest November on record still delivered 244 mm against 59 mm in the driest. In a month this wet, even a tame spread is a lot of rain in absolute terms — the 121 mm average is a reasonable planning figure, not a promise.

Wind sits around 18 km/h — a steady breeze rather than a nuisance, and welcome on the warmer days, and humidity runs at 89%, which at 11.2 °C means damp rather than muggy — the kind of cold that gets into a coat and stays there.

How November sits in the year

The month is on the way down: 3.4 °C cooler than October, with December dropping another 2.3 °C. The first week and the last are not the same trip.

Daylight in November

8.9 hours of daylight, losing 1.5 hours across the month. That is between Swansea's extremes of 16.6 and 7.9 hours, so days are long enough not to constrain the plan.

An inland climate

Despite being inland, the year stays fairly even: 14.8 °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.

November in Swansea versus nearby

If Swansea is one option among several, the nearby comparison is worth making. Birmingham is close enough to be a coin toss — within a degree on temperature, 4 days less rain. Manchester is close enough to be a coin toss — within a degree on temperature, 1 day less rain.

So: November is a compromise. July is 33 points better and is what Swansea 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 Swansea

See all twelve months in Swansea, or where else to go in November.