Climate averages 1991–2020
Reykjavík weather
in December.
A cold month with heavy precipitation: the joint 10th warmest and the joint 10th driest of the year.
Long-term climate patterns, not a forecast for a particular trip.
December is a cold month in Reykjavík: daytime highs average 1.2°C and nights cool to about -3.4°C. By daytime temperature it is the joint 10th warmest of the 12 months.
Expect about 124 mm of precipitation on roughly 17 days, which makes December a month with heavy precipitation (the joint 10th driest of the 12 months). Daylight, from sunrise to sunset, lasts about 4 h 24 min on an average December day.
The nearest other city in this atlas is Tórshavn (795 km away). In December its highs average 6.2°C, 5.0°C warmer than Reykjavík, with 125 mm of rain.
From December to January, average highs fall by 0.1°C to 1.0°C, and monthly precipitation stays at 124 mm.
The annual picture
December in context
Monthly precipitation
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
Reykjavík climate table
| Month | Average highHigh / low | Average low | Precipitation mm/month | Wet days ≥1 mm/day | Daylight hours/dayDaylight h/day |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 1.0°C-3.7°C | -3.7°C | 124 | 17.9 | 5.55 h |
| February | 1.2°C-3.6°C | -3.6°C | 123 | 16.8 | 8.58 h |
| March | 2.4°C-2.7°C | -2.7°C | 114 | 16.9 | 11.712 h |
| April | 5.7°C0.0°C | 0.0°C | 90 | 15.3 | 15.015 h |
| May | 9.4°C3.3°C | 3.3°C | 83 | 14.8 | 18.418 h |
| June | 12.7°C6.8°C | 6.8°C | 69 | 12.8 | 20.821 h |
| July | 14.4°C8.7°C | 8.7°C | 76 | 13.3 | 19.720 h |
| August | 13.5°C8.2°C | 8.2°C | 93 | 14.9 | 16.416 h |
| September | 10.3°C5.8°C | 5.8°C | 126 | 16.8 | 13.113 h |
| October | 6.0°C1.9°C | 1.9°C | 111 | 14.8 | 9.810 h |
| November | 2.7°C-1.1°C | -1.1°C | 113 | 15.5 | 6.67 h |
| December, selected | 1.2°C-3.4°C | -3.4°C | 124 | 16.5 | 4.44 h |
Precipitation (rain or snow, as water) is the average of the 30 separate monthly totals. A wet 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
December in nearby cities
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 Reykjavík) is explained once on the Reykjavík year overview and on the Sources, method and limits page.