Climate averages 1991–2020
Orkney weather
in December.
A hot, wet month: the warmest and the wettest of the year.
Long-term climate patterns, not a forecast for a particular trip.
December is a hot month in Orkney: daytime highs average 29.1°C and nights cool to about 16.6°C. By daytime temperature it is the warmest month of the year.
Expect about 98 mm of rain on roughly 15 days, which makes December a wet month (the wettest month of the year). Daylight, from sunrise to sunset, lasts about 13 h 48 min on an average December day.
The nearest other city in this atlas is Klerksdorp (14 km away). In December its highs average 29.0°C, about as warm as Orkney, with 102 mm of rain.
Among the 95 cities listed in South Africa, Orkney ranks joint 11th of 95 for the warmest December highs and 36th of 95 for the driest December (rainfall, lowest first). The mean December high of those 95 cities is 26.6°C; Orkney is 2.5°C warmer than that mean.
From December to January, average highs fall by 0.1°C to 29.0°C, and monthly rainfall falls from 98 mm to 97 mm.
The annual picture
December 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
Orkney climate table
| Month | Average highHigh / low | Average low | Rainfall mm/month | Rain days ≥1 mm/day | Daylight hours/dayDaylight h/day |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 29.0°C17.2°C | 17.2°C | 97 | 14.4 | 13.614 h |
| February | 28.3°C16.7°C | 16.7°C | 77 | 12.4 | 13.013 h |
| March | 26.9°C14.9°C | 14.9°C | 68 | 10.8 | 12.312 h |
| April | 24.0°C11.3°C | 11.3°C | 40 | 6.9 | 11.511 h |
| May | 21.5°C7.0°C | 7.0°C | 19 | 3.1 | 10.811 h |
| June | 18.6°C3.5°C | 3.5°C | 9.9 | 1.5 | 10.510 h |
| July | 18.8°C2.9°C | 2.9°C | 4.6 | 0.9 | 10.611 h |
| August | 22.1°C5.7°C | 5.7°C | 12 | 1.7 | 11.211 h |
| September | 26.6°C10.1°C | 10.1°C | 15 | 3.0 | 11.912 h |
| October | 28.3°C13.2°C | 13.2°C | 60 | 9.4 | 12.713 h |
| November | 28.7°C14.8°C | 14.8°C | 73 | 11.2 | 13.413 h |
| December, selected | 29.1°C16.6°C | 16.6°C | 98 | 14.8 | 13.814 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
December in nearby cities
- Klerksdorp in DecemberSouth Africa · 14 kmHigh 29.0°C · Low 16.7°C · 102 mm rain
- Stilfontein in DecemberSouth Africa · 18 kmHigh 28.7°C · Low 16.5°C · 102 mm rain
- Bothaville in DecemberSouth Africa · 46 kmHigh 29.7°C · Low 16.7°C · 89 mm rain
- Potchefstroom in DecemberSouth Africa · 52 kmHigh 28.3°C · Low 16.8°C · 112 mm rain
- Parys in DecemberSouth Africa · 78 kmHigh 27.7°C · Low 16.1°C · 129 mm rain
- Kroonstad in DecemberSouth Africa · 93 kmHigh 28.4°C · Low 15.8°C · 104 mm rain
- Kutloanong in DecemberSouth Africa · 95 kmHigh 29.4°C · Low 16.3°C · 94 mm rain
- Odendaalsrus in DecemberSouth Africa · 99 kmHigh 29.3°C · Low 16.3°C · 94 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 Orkney) is explained once on the Orkney year overview and on the Sources, method and limits page.