Climate averages 1991–2020
Bern weather
in May.
A mild, wet month: the 5th warmest and the wettest of the year.
Long-term climate patterns, not a forecast for a particular trip.
May is a mild month in Bern: daytime highs average 16.3°C and nights cool to about 7.0°C. By daytime temperature it is the 5th warmest of the 12 months.
Expect about 117 mm of rain on roughly 15 days, which makes May a wet month (the wettest month of the year). Daylight, from sunrise to sunset, lasts about 15 h 02 min on an average May day.
The nearest other city in this atlas is Luzern (66 km away). In May its highs average 17.9°C, 1.6°C warmer than Bern, with 188 mm of rain.
Among the 8 cities listed in Switzerland, Bern ranks 7th of 8 for the warmest May highs and 1st of 8 for the driest May (rainfall, lowest first). The mean May high of those 8 cities is 17.5°C; Bern is 1.2°C cooler than that mean.
From May to June, average highs rise by 3.5°C to 19.8°C, and monthly rainfall falls from 117 mm to 106 mm.
The annual picture
May 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 | 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, selected | 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
May in nearby cities
- Luzern in MaySwitzerland · 66 kmHigh 17.9°C · Low 8.1°C · 188 mm rain
- Basel in MaySwitzerland · 69 kmHigh 18.7°C · Low 8.9°C · 129 mm rain
- Lausanne in MaySwitzerland · 79 kmHigh 16.8°C · Low 9.6°C · 120 mm rain
- Mulhouse in MayFrance · 90 kmHigh 18.4°C · Low 9.2°C · 93 mm rain
- Zürich in MaySwitzerland · 95 kmHigh 17.9°C · Low 8.6°C · 144 mm rain
- Besançon in MayFrance · 113 kmHigh 18.5°C · Low 9.7°C · 110 mm rain
- Winterthur in MaySwitzerland · 115 kmHigh 17.6°C · Low 8.5°C · 119 mm rain
- Freiburg in MayGermany · 120 kmHigh 18.9°C · Low 9.9°C · 105 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.