Climate - Skopelos (Greece)

The climate of Skopelos, a Greek island belonging to the Northern Sporades, is Mediterranean, with relatively mild, rainy winters and hot, sunny summers.
The daily average temperature ranges from around 10 °C (50 °F) in January to around 27 °C (80 °F) in July and August. Here are the average temperatures.

Being a short distance from the mainland, the island is subject to outbreaks of cold air in winter, while in late spring and summer, it can occasionally receive some showers or thunderstorms coming from the same continent.
The island's interior is covered with plains and hills, which reach about 650 meters (2,100 ft) above sea level, and it's green.

Rainfall follows the Mediterranean pattern, in fact, it is more frequent from October to April, and amounts to 630 millimeters (25 inches) per year. As mentioned, rainfall is rare in summer, and occurs in the form of short showers or thunderstorms. Here is the average precipitation.

Winter, from December to mid-March, is quite mild: the maximum temperature is on average about 12/13 °C (54/55 °F), but there can be milder periods, with highs around 15/18 °C (59/64 °F), and cold periods, when highs remain around 5/7 °C (41/45 °F), and with a moderate or even strong wind that heightens the feeling of cold. In addition, sometimes, and not too infrequently, it can snow, and there may be frosts at night.

Spring, from mid-March to May, is mild, but with some periods a bit cold, windy and rainy, which gradually become less frequent.

Summer, from June to mid-September, is hot and sunny, with rare showers. Typically, the maximum temperatures hover around 30 °C (86 °F) and rarely exceed 33/34 °C (91/93 °F), sometimes, however, there can be short heat waves, in which the temperature can reach 38/40 °C (100/104 °F).

Autumn, from mid-September to November, is pleasantly warm at first, then gradually becomes milder. The rains gradually become more frequent, although in September and the first half of October, there are still entire weeks without rain. In November, the first days a bit cold and windy begin to occur, and sometimes also in October.



The amount of sunshine in Skopelos is very good in summer, when clear skies prevail, and it is also good in May and September, while in the rest of the year, there are both sunny periods and periods with cloudy skies. Here are the average sunshine hours per day.

The temperature of the sea, still cold in May and cool in June, becomes high enough for swimming from July to September. Here are the average sea temperatures.

Best Time

The best time to go to Skopelos for a beach holiday is summer, from June to mid-September. In June, and sometimes in early July, there can be some cool evenings, so it's better to bring a sweatshirt for the evening.
In May, not only the sea is cold, but some days can also be cool, with highs below 20 °C (68 °F), especially in the first half of the month.
If you want to go on excursions on the island, you can choose May and September.

Back to the Sporades Islands.