Climate averages 1991–2020
Reykjavík weather
in May.
A cool, moderately wet month: the 5th warmest and the 3rd driest of the year.
Long-term climate patterns, not a forecast for a particular trip.
May is a cool month in Reykjavík: daytime highs average 9.4°C and nights cool to about 3.3°C. By daytime temperature it is the 5th warmest of the 12 months.
Expect about 83 mm of rain on roughly 15 days, which makes May a moderately wet month (the 3rd driest of the 12 months). Daylight, from sunrise to sunset, lasts about 18 h 22 min on an average May day.
The nearest other city in this atlas is Tórshavn (795 km away). In May its highs average 8.6°C, 0.8°C cooler than Reykjavík, with 54 mm of rain.
From May to June, average highs rise by 3.3°C to 12.7°C, and monthly rainfall falls from 83 mm to 69 mm.
The annual picture
May 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, selected | 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
May 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.