Average weather, temperature, rainfall, sunshine hours
The climate of Copenhagen is
Baltic, that is to say, relatively continental, with cold winters and mild to pleasantly warm summers.
The city is the capital of Denmark and is located on the island of Zealand, in the east of the country. On the other side of the coast, beyond the Øresund strait, lies
Malmo, in Sweden.
Although winter is not very cold for the latitude, it is often humid, windy and rainy. Snow is quite frequent, although generally not abundant. On average, there are 20 days with snow per year, 63 days with night temperatures below freezing, and 13 days with lows below -5 °C (23 °F).
Occasionally, there may be cold waves in winter, in which the temperature can drop to -15/-16 °C (3/5 °F), as happened for example in February 1978, January 1979, January 1982, January and February 1985, and January 2003. Instead, in January 1987, it reached -18 °C (-0.5 °F), while in February 1956 it reached -19 °C (-2 °F).
Even in spring, until April or the first half of May, there is often cold and unstable weather.
In summer, there are 15 days with highs above 25 °C (77 °F). Every now and then, short hot periods are possible. In July 2018, the temperature reached 31.7 °C (89 °F).
The
average temperature of the coldest month (January) is of 1.3 °C (34 °F), that of the warmest month (July) is of 18.1 °C (65 °F). Here are the average temperatures.
Copenhagen - Average temperaturesMonth | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
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Min (°C) | -1 | -1 | 1 | 4 | 8 | 12 | 14 | 14 | 11 | 7 | 4 | 1 | 6.2 |
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Max (°C) | 3 | 4 | 6 | 11 | 16 | 19 | 22 | 22 | 18 | 13 | 8 | 4 | 12.2 |
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Min (°F) | 30 | 30 | 34 | 39 | 46 | 54 | 57 | 57 | 52 | 45 | 39 | 34 | 43.2 |
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Max (°F) | 37 | 39 | 43 | 52 | 61 | 66 | 72 | 72 | 64 | 55 | 46 | 39 | 54 |
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Precipitation amounts to 525 millimeters (20.7 inches) per year: so, it is at an intermediate level. It ranges from 25 mm (1 in) in the driest month (February) to 60 mm (2.4 in) in the wettest (September). Here is the average precipitation.
Copenhagen - Average precipitationMonth | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
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Prec.(mm) | 35 | 25 | 35 | 35 | 40 | 50 | 50 | 50 | 60 | 50 | 50 | 45 | 525 |
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Prec.(in) | 1.4 | 1 | 1.4 | 1.4 | 1.6 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2.4 | 2 | 2 | 1.8 | 20.7 |
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Days | 9 | 6 | 8 | 7 | 7 | 9 | 8 | 8 | 10 | 9 | 10 | 10 | 102 |
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On average, there are around 1,780
sunshine hours per year. Here are the average sunshine hours per day.
Copenhagen - SunshineMonth | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec |
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Hours | 1 | 2 | 4 | 6 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 5 | 3 | 2 | 1 |
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As regards to the
length of the days, given the latitude (55°41'N), the days are short from November to January, while in February, which is as cold as January and can sometimes be even colder, the city becomes a bit brighter. On December 21, the shortest day of the year, the sun rises at 8:37 am and sets at 3:38 pm. One month later, on January 21, it rises at 8:21 am and sets at 4:21 pm. On February 21, it rises at 7:19 am and sets at 5:27 pm.
On June 21, the longest day of the year, the sun rises at 4:25 am and sets at 9:57 pm. From around June 4 to July 9, the
white nights occur, when it doesn't get completely dark even at midnight.
The
sea temperature ranges between 2 °C (36 °F) and 18 °C (64 °F). So, it never becomes warm for swimming (if not for Northern Europeans). Here are the average sea temperatures.
Copenhagen - Sea temperatureMonth | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec |
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Temp (°C) | 3 | 2 | 3 | 6 | 10 | 15 | 18 | 18 | 16 | 12 | 8 | 5 |
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Temp (°F) | 37 | 36 | 37 | 43 | 50 | 59 | 64 | 64 | 61 | 54 | 46 | 41 |
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Best Time
The best time to visit Copenhagen is the
summer, from June to August, since it is the mildest season. However, you must take into account some rainy days and a bit of cold at night.