Climate averages 1991–2020
Geneva weather
in December.
A cold, wet month: the 11th warmest and the 11th driest of the year.
Long-term climate patterns, not a forecast for a particular trip.
December is a cold month in Geneva: daytime highs average 5.9°C and nights cool to about -0.1°C. By daytime temperature it is the 11th warmest of the 12 months.
Expect about 131 mm of rain on roughly 13 days, which makes December a wet month (the 11th driest of the 12 months). Daylight, from sunrise to sunset, lasts about 8 h 42 min on an average December day.
The nearest other city in this atlas is Lausanne (51 km away). In December its highs average 5.8°C, about as warm as Geneva, with 125 mm of rain.
Among the 8 cities listed in Switzerland, Geneva ranks 1st of 8 for the warmest December highs and joint 7th of 8 for the driest December (rainfall, lowest first). The mean December high of those 8 cities is 5.1°C; Geneva is 0.9°C warmer than that mean.
From December to January, average highs fall by 0.6°C to 5.3°C, and monthly rainfall falls from 131 mm to 115 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
Geneva climate table
| Month | Average highHigh / low | Average low | Rainfall mm/month | Rain days ≥1 mm/day | Daylight hours/dayDaylight h/day |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 5.3°C-0.9°C | -0.9°C | 115 | 12.5 | 9.19 h |
| February | 6.5°C-0.6°C | -0.6°C | 100 | 11.0 | 10.310 h |
| March | 10.8°C2.1°C | 2.1°C | 109 | 12.7 | 11.912 h |
| April | 14.7°C5.4°C | 5.4°C | 109 | 13.5 | 13.514 h |
| May | 18.4°C9.5°C | 9.5°C | 144 | 15.9 | 14.915 h |
| June | 22.0°C13.3°C | 13.3°C | 123 | 14.7 | 15.716 h |
| July | 24.1°C15.5°C | 15.5°C | 123 | 12.8 | 15.415 h |
| August | 24.0°C15.5°C | 15.5°C | 117 | 12.7 | 14.214 h |
| September | 19.8°C11.6°C | 11.6°C | 109 | 12.2 | 12.613 h |
| October | 15.8°C7.5°C | 7.5°C | 112 | 12.4 | 11.011 h |
| November | 9.7°C2.7°C | 2.7°C | 125 | 13.5 | 9.59 h |
| December, selected | 5.9°C-0.1°C | -0.1°C | 131 | 13.4 | 8.79 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
- Lausanne in DecemberSwitzerland · 51 kmHigh 5.8°C · Low 1.6°C · 125 mm rain
- Villeurbanne in DecemberFrance · 109 kmHigh 7.4°C · Low 1.5°C · 83 mm rain
- Lyon in DecemberFrance · 112 kmHigh 7.7°C · Low 1.7°C · 74 mm rain
- Besançon in DecemberFrance · 117 kmHigh 6.6°C · Low 1.2°C · 124 mm rain
- Grenoble in DecemberFrance · 119 kmHigh 7.7°C · Low 0.7°C · 133 mm rain
- Bern in DecemberSwitzerland · 130 kmHigh 4.4°C · Low -2.1°C · 93 mm rain
- Dijon in DecemberFrance · 151 kmHigh 6.6°C · Low 1.4°C · 84 mm rain
- Saint-Étienne in DecemberFrance · 161 kmHigh 7.0°C · Low 1.1°C · 64 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 Geneva) is explained once on the Geneva year overview and on the Sources, method and limits page.