Climate averages 1991–2020
Zürich weather
in December.
A cold, wet month: the 11th warmest and the joint 5th driest of the year.
Long-term climate patterns, not a forecast for a particular trip.
December is a cold month in Zürich: daytime highs average 5.2°C and nights cool to about -0.4°C. By daytime temperature it is the 11th warmest of the 12 months.
Expect about 106 mm of rain on roughly 14 days, which makes December a wet month (the joint 5th driest of the 12 months). Daylight, from sunrise to sunset, lasts about 8 h 33 min on an average December day.
The nearest other city in this atlas is Winterthur (20 km away). In December its highs average 4.9°C, about as warm as Zürich, with 93 mm of rain.
Among the 8 cities listed in Switzerland, Zürich ranks 5th of 8 for the warmest December highs and 5th of 8 for the driest December (rainfall, lowest first). The mean December high of those 8 cities is 5.1°C; Zürich is 0.1°C warmer than that mean.
From December to January, average highs fall by 0.4°C to 4.8°C, and monthly rainfall falls from 106 mm to 92 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
Zürich climate table
| Month | Average highHigh / low | Average low | Rainfall mm/month | Rain days ≥1 mm/day | Daylight hours/dayDaylight h/day |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 4.8°C-1.4°C | -1.4°C | 92 | 12.9 | 8.99 h |
| February | 6.1°C-1.5°C | -1.5°C | 85 | 11.9 | 10.210 h |
| March | 10.3°C1.1°C | 1.1°C | 98 | 14.2 | 11.912 h |
| April | 14.1°C4.2°C | 4.2°C | 106 | 13.9 | 13.614 h |
| May | 17.9°C8.6°C | 8.6°C | 144 | 16.0 | 15.115 h |
| June | 21.4°C12.5°C | 12.5°C | 143 | 15.5 | 15.916 h |
| July | 23.3°C14.6°C | 14.6°C | 146 | 15.4 | 15.516 h |
| August | 23.2°C15.0°C | 15.0°C | 147 | 14.4 | 14.314 h |
| September | 18.9°C11.2°C | 11.2°C | 123 | 12.4 | 12.613 h |
| October | 14.6°C7.3°C | 7.3°C | 103 | 12.7 | 10.911 h |
| November | 8.8°C2.6°C | 2.6°C | 106 | 13.0 | 9.49 h |
| December, selected | 5.2°C-0.4°C | -0.4°C | 106 | 14.0 | 8.59 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
- Winterthur in DecemberSwitzerland · 20 kmHigh 4.9°C · Low -0.9°C · 93 mm rain
- Luzern in DecemberSwitzerland · 40 kmHigh 5.3°C · Low 0.0°C · 131 mm rain
- Konstanz in DecemberGermany · 57 kmHigh 4.3°C · Low 0.4°C · 85 mm rain
- Sankt Gallen in DecemberSwitzerland · 62 kmHigh 3.4°C · Low -3.5°C · 105 mm rain
- Basel in DecemberSwitzerland · 76 kmHigh 5.8°C · Low -0.8°C · 101 mm rain
- Villingen-Schwenningen in DecemberGermany · 77 kmHigh 3.0°C · Low -2.7°C · 100 mm rain
- Vaduz in DecemberLiechtenstein · 77 kmHigh 5.0°C · Low -2.7°C · 124 mm rain
- Freiburg in DecemberGermany · 87 kmHigh 5.8°C · Low 0.2°C · 108 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 Zürich) is explained once on the Zürich year overview and on the Sources, method and limits page.