Climate averages 1991–2020
Lyon weather
in May.
A mild, wet month: the 5th warmest and the 9th driest of the year.
Long-term climate patterns, not a forecast for a particular trip.
May is a mild month in Lyon: daytime highs average 20.2°C and nights cool to about 10.4°C. By daytime temperature it is the 5th warmest of the 12 months.
Expect about 90 mm of rain on roughly 13 days, which makes May a wet month (the 9th driest of the 12 months). Daylight, from sunrise to sunset, lasts about 14 h 54 min on an average May day.
The nearest other city in this atlas is Villeurbanne (3 km away). In May its highs average 19.9°C, about as warm as Lyon, with 88 mm of rain.
Among the 57 cities listed in France, Lyon ranks 14th of 57 for the warmest May highs and 50th of 57 for the driest May (rainfall, lowest first). The mean May high of those 57 cities is 18.9°C; Lyon is 1.3°C warmer than that mean.
From May to June, average highs rise by 4.1°C to 24.3°C, and monthly rainfall falls from 90 mm to 81 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
Lyon climate table
| Month | Average highHigh / low | Average low | Rainfall mm/month | Rain days ≥1 mm/day | Daylight hours/dayDaylight h/day |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 7.2°C0.7°C | 0.7°C | 69 | 12.6 | 9.19 h |
| February | 8.8°C0.8°C | 0.8°C | 56 | 10.2 | 10.310 h |
| March | 12.9°C3.4°C | 3.4°C | 60 | 10.8 | 11.912 h |
| April | 16.3°C6.3°C | 6.3°C | 81 | 11.8 | 13.513 h |
| May, selected | 20.2°C10.4°C | 10.4°C | 90 | 12.5 | 14.915 h |
| June | 24.3°C14.3°C | 14.3°C | 81 | 11.7 | 15.616 h |
| July | 26.7°C16.6°C | 16.6°C | 78 | 10.0 | 15.315 h |
| August | 26.7°C16.5°C | 16.5°C | 77 | 9.5 | 14.114 h |
| September | 22.1°C12.9°C | 12.9°C | 93 | 9.6 | 12.613 h |
| October | 17.2°C9.3°C | 9.3°C | 99 | 11.6 | 11.011 h |
| November | 11.2°C4.6°C | 4.6°C | 100 | 12.4 | 9.510 h |
| December | 7.7°C1.7°C | 1.7°C | 74 | 12.3 | 8.89 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
- Villeurbanne in MayFrance · 3 kmHigh 19.9°C · Low 10.4°C · 88 mm rain
- Saint-Étienne in MayFrance · 50 kmHigh 18.1°C · Low 8.7°C · 98 mm rain
- Grenoble in MayFrance · 93 kmHigh 20.0°C · Low 10.4°C · 147 mm rain
- Geneva in MaySwitzerland · 112 kmHigh 18.4°C · Low 9.5°C · 144 mm rain
- Clermont-Ferrand in MayFrance · 137 kmHigh 18.0°C · Low 8.5°C · 99 mm rain
- Lausanne in MaySwitzerland · 162 kmHigh 16.8°C · Low 9.6°C · 120 mm rain
- Dijon in MayFrance · 174 kmHigh 18.8°C · Low 9.7°C · 89 mm rain
- Besançon in MayFrance · 189 kmHigh 18.5°C · Low 9.7°C · 110 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 Lyon) is explained once on the Lyon year overview and on the Sources, method and limits page.