Climate averages 1991–2020
Besançon weather
in May.
A mild, wet month: the 5th warmest and the 10th driest of the year.
Long-term climate patterns, not a forecast for a particular trip.
May is a mild month in Besançon: daytime highs average 18.5°C and nights cool to about 9.7°C. By daytime temperature it is the 5th warmest of the 12 months.
Expect about 110 mm of rain on roughly 14 days, which makes May a wet month (the 10th driest of the 12 months). Daylight, from sunrise to sunset, lasts about 15 h 04 min on an average May day.
The nearest other city in this atlas is Dijon (76 km away). In May its highs average 18.8°C, about as warm as Besançon, with 89 mm of rain.
Among the 57 cities listed in France, Besançon ranks joint 29th of 57 for the warmest May highs and 55th of 57 for the driest May (rainfall, lowest first). The mean May high of those 57 cities is 18.9°C; Besançon is 0.4°C cooler than that mean.
From May to June, average highs rise by 3.7°C to 22.2°C, and monthly rainfall falls from 110 mm to 85 mm.
The annual picture
May in context
Monthly rainfall
Average total · mmAverages from hourly ERA5 reanalysis data. Actual weather varies from year to year. How these numbers are calculated
Every month, side by side
Besançon climate table
| Month | Average highHigh / low | Average low | Rainfall mm/month | Rain days ≥1 mm/day | Daylight hours/dayDaylight h/day |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 6.1°C0.1°C | 0.1°C | 108 | 13.6 | 8.99 h |
| February | 7.3°C0.1°C | 0.1°C | 96 | 12.5 | 10.210 h |
| March | 11.2°C2.7°C | 2.7°C | 95 | 12.9 | 11.912 h |
| April | 14.9°C5.7°C | 5.7°C | 88 | 12.8 | 13.614 h |
| May, selected | 18.5°C9.7°C | 9.7°C | 110 | 14.2 | 15.115 h |
| June | 22.2°C13.3°C | 13.3°C | 85 | 12.6 | 15.916 h |
| July | 24.7°C15.4°C | 15.4°C | 76 | 11.9 | 15.516 h |
| August | 24.7°C15.5°C | 15.5°C | 78 | 10.6 | 14.214 h |
| September | 20.2°C12.0°C | 12.0°C | 93 | 11.2 | 12.613 h |
| October | 15.9°C8.6°C | 8.6°C | 105 | 12.4 | 10.911 h |
| November | 10.0°C3.9°C | 3.9°C | 115 | 13.7 | 9.49 h |
| December | 6.6°C1.2°C | 1.2°C | 124 | 15.2 | 8.69 h |
Rainfall is the average of the 30 separate monthly totals. A rain day is a local calendar day with at least 1 mm of precipitation. Daylight is the calculated sunrise-to-sunset length, not measured sunshine.
Compare places
May in nearby cities
- Dijon in MayFrance · 76 kmHigh 18.8°C · Low 9.7°C · 89 mm rain
- Lausanne in MaySwitzerland · 94 kmHigh 16.8°C · Low 9.6°C · 120 mm rain
- Bern in MaySwitzerland · 113 kmHigh 16.3°C · Low 7.0°C · 117 mm rain
- Mulhouse in MayFrance · 113 kmHigh 18.4°C · Low 9.2°C · 93 mm rain
- Geneva in MaySwitzerland · 117 kmHigh 18.4°C · Low 9.5°C · 144 mm rain
- Basel in MaySwitzerland · 122 kmHigh 18.7°C · Low 8.9°C · 129 mm rain
- Nancy in MayFrance · 160 kmHigh 18.3°C · Low 9.4°C · 74 mm rain
- Freiburg in MayGermany · 161 kmHigh 18.9°C · Low 9.9°C · 105 mm rain
Read the numbers correctly
Climate, not a promise.
These patterns help compare months. They cannot tell you the weather on a specific day of your trip.
Sources, method and limitsHow these numbers are made (what the highs, lows and rain days mean, the sources and the model cell used for Besançon) is explained once on the Besançon year overview and on the Sources, method and limits page.