Climate averages 1991–2020
Bern weather
in January.
A cold, moderately wet month: the coolest and the 2nd driest of the year.
Long-term climate patterns, not a forecast for a particular trip.
January is a cold month in Bern: daytime highs average 3.8°C and nights cool to about -3.3°C. By daytime temperature it is the coolest month of the year.
Expect about 80 mm of rain on roughly 13 days, which makes January a moderately wet month (the 2nd driest of the 12 months). Daylight, from sunrise to sunset, lasts about 8 h 59 min on an average January day.
The nearest other city in this atlas is Luzern (66 km away). In January its highs average 4.6°C, 0.8°C warmer than Bern, with 117 mm of rain.
Among the 8 cities listed in Switzerland, Bern ranks 7th of 8 for the warmest January highs and joint 2nd of 8 for the driest January (rainfall, lowest first). The mean January high of those 8 cities is 4.5°C; Bern is 0.7°C cooler than that mean.
From January to February, average highs rise by 1.1°C to 4.9°C, and monthly rainfall falls from 80 mm to 73 mm.
The annual picture
January 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
Bern climate table
| Month | Average highHigh / low | Average low | Rainfall mm/month | Rain days ≥1 mm/day | Daylight hours/dayDaylight h/day |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January, selected | 3.8°C-3.3°C | -3.3°C | 80 | 12.8 | 9.09 h |
| February | 4.9°C-3.3°C | -3.3°C | 73 | 11.7 | 10.310 h |
| March | 8.8°C-0.2°C | -0.2°C | 84 | 13.3 | 11.912 h |
| April | 12.5°C2.7°C | 2.7°C | 90 | 13.6 | 13.614 h |
| May | 16.3°C7.0°C | 7.0°C | 117 | 15.4 | 15.015 h |
| June | 19.8°C10.8°C | 10.8°C | 106 | 14.7 | 15.816 h |
| July | 21.8°C12.9°C | 12.9°C | 104 | 13.5 | 15.515 h |
| August | 21.8°C13.1°C | 13.1°C | 101 | 13.3 | 14.214 h |
| September | 17.7°C9.6°C | 9.6°C | 88 | 11.8 | 12.613 h |
| October | 13.9°C5.8°C | 5.8°C | 84 | 11.9 | 10.911 h |
| November | 8.1°C1.0°C | 1.0°C | 90 | 12.6 | 9.49 h |
| December | 4.4°C-2.1°C | -2.1°C | 93 | 13.5 | 8.69 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
January in nearby cities
- Luzern in JanuarySwitzerland · 66 kmHigh 4.6°C · Low -0.9°C · 117 mm rain
- Basel in JanuarySwitzerland · 69 kmHigh 5.4°C · Low -1.7°C · 80 mm rain
- Lausanne in JanuarySwitzerland · 79 kmHigh 5.1°C · Low 0.5°C · 108 mm rain
- Mulhouse in JanuaryFrance · 90 kmHigh 5.0°C · Low -1.2°C · 75 mm rain
- Zürich in JanuarySwitzerland · 95 kmHigh 4.8°C · Low -1.4°C · 92 mm rain
- Besançon in JanuaryFrance · 113 kmHigh 6.1°C · Low 0.1°C · 108 mm rain
- Winterthur in JanuarySwitzerland · 115 kmHigh 4.5°C · Low -1.9°C · 79 mm rain
- Freiburg in JanuaryGermany · 120 kmHigh 5.3°C · Low -1.2°C · 91 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 Bern) is explained once on the Bern year overview and on the Sources, method and limits page.