Climate averages 1991–2020
Edinburgh weather
in December.
A cold, moderately 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 Edinburgh: daytime highs average 6.0°C and nights cool to about 2.1°C. By daytime temperature it is the 11th warmest of the 12 months.
Expect about 76 mm of rain on roughly 13 days, which makes December a moderately wet month (the 11th driest of the 12 months). Daylight, from sunrise to sunset, lasts about 7 h 06 min on an average December day.
The nearest other city in this atlas is Dundee, United Kingdom (59 km away). In December its highs average 5.4°C, 0.6°C cooler than Edinburgh, with 74 mm of rain.
Among the 143 cities listed in the United Kingdom, Edinburgh ranks joint 137th of 143 for the warmest December highs and 102nd of 143 for the driest December (rainfall, lowest first). The mean December high of those 143 cities is 7.2°C; Edinburgh is 1.1°C cooler than that mean.
From December to January, average highs fall by 0.2°C to 5.8°C, and monthly rainfall falls from 76 mm to 74 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
Edinburgh climate table
| Month | Average highHigh / low | Average low | Rainfall mm/month | Rain days ≥1 mm/day | Daylight hours/dayDaylight h/day |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 5.8°C1.9°C | 1.9°C | 74 | 14.0 | 7.78 h |
| February | 6.4°C1.8°C | 1.8°C | 61 | 11.9 | 9.510 h |
| March | 8.1°C2.6°C | 2.6°C | 59 | 12.5 | 11.812 h |
| April | 10.5°C4.1°C | 4.1°C | 54 | 11.6 | 14.114 h |
| May | 13.3°C6.7°C | 6.7°C | 56 | 12.6 | 16.316 h |
| June | 15.8°C9.7°C | 9.7°C | 64 | 13.1 | 17.517 h |
| July | 17.7°C11.5°C | 11.5°C | 70 | 13.6 | 17.017 h |
| August | 17.4°C11.4°C | 11.4°C | 75 | 13.2 | 15.115 h |
| September | 15.2°C9.7°C | 9.7°C | 59 | 11.1 | 12.813 h |
| October | 11.8°C7.1°C | 7.1°C | 80 | 13.0 | 10.510 h |
| November | 8.4°C4.2°C | 4.2°C | 71 | 13.6 | 8.38 h |
| December, selected | 6.0°C2.1°C | 2.1°C | 76 | 13.4 | 7.17 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
- Dundee, United Kingdom in DecemberUnited Kingdom · 59 kmHigh 5.4°C · Low 1.1°C · 74 mm rain
- East Kilbride in DecemberUnited Kingdom · 65 kmHigh 5.3°C · Low 0.7°C · 115 mm rain
- Glasgow in DecemberUnited Kingdom · 67 kmHigh 5.9°C · Low 1.4°C · 115 mm rain
- Paisley in DecemberUnited Kingdom · 78 kmHigh 6.2°C · Low 1.8°C · 124 mm rain
- Carlisle in DecemberUnited Kingdom · 119 kmHigh 6.1°C · Low 1.5°C · 100 mm rain
- Newcastle upon Tyne in DecemberUnited Kingdom · 148 kmHigh 6.4°C · Low 2.5°C · 59 mm rain
- Aberdeen in DecemberUnited Kingdom · 149 kmHigh 6.8°C · Low 3.9°C · 74 mm rain
- South Shields in DecemberUnited Kingdom · 154 kmHigh 7.0°C · Low 3.1°C · 59 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 Edinburgh) is explained once on the Edinburgh year overview and on the Sources, method and limits page.