Climate averages 1991–2020

Reykjavík weather
in January.

A cold month with heavy precipitation: the coolest and the joint 10th driest of the year.

Long-term climate patterns, not a forecast for a particular trip.

Average high 1.0°C Daytime mean, January

Average low -3.7°C Night-time mean, January

Precipitation 124 mm 18 days with ≥1 mm

Daylight 5 h Sunrise to sunset, per day

January is a cold month in Reykjavík: daytime highs average 1.0°C and nights cool to about -3.7°C. By daytime temperature it is the coolest month of the year.

Expect about 124 mm of precipitation on roughly 18 days, which makes January a month with heavy precipitation (the joint 10th driest of the 12 months). Daylight, from sunrise to sunset, lasts about 5 h 29 min on an average January day.

The nearest other city in this atlas is Tórshavn (795 km away). In January its highs average 5.9°C, 4.9°C warmer than Reykjavík, with 122 mm of rain.

From January to February, average highs rise by 0.2°C to 1.2°C, and monthly precipitation falls from 124 mm to 123 mm.

The annual picture

January in context

30-year average

Average highAverage low°C

Monthly precipitation

Average total · mm

Averages 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

1991–2020

Monthly climate averages for Reykjavík, 1991–2020
Month	Average highHigh / low	Average low	Precipitation mm/month	Wet days ≥1 mm/day	Daylight hours/dayDaylight h/day
January, selected	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	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

January in nearby cities

Distance from Reykjavík

Tórshavn in JanuaryFaroe Islands · 795 kmHigh 5.9°C · Low 3.2°C · 122 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 limits

How 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.