Climate averages 1991–2020
Glasgow 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 Glasgow: daytime highs average 5.9°C and nights cool to about 1.4°C. By daytime temperature it is the 11th warmest of the 12 months.
Expect about 115 mm of rain on roughly 16 days, which makes December a wet month (the 11th driest of the 12 months). Daylight, from sunrise to sunset, lasts about 7 h 07 min on an average December day.
The nearest other city in this atlas is Paisley (12 km away). In December its highs average 6.2°C, about as warm as Glasgow, with 124 mm of rain.
Among the 143 cities listed in the United Kingdom, Glasgow ranks 139th of 143 for the warmest December highs and joint 133rd of 143 for the driest December (rainfall, lowest first). The mean December high of those 143 cities is 7.2°C; Glasgow is 1.3°C cooler than that mean.
From December to January, average highs fall by 0.1°C to 5.8°C, and monthly rainfall rises from 115 mm to 116 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
Glasgow climate table
| Month | Average highHigh / low | Average low | Rainfall mm/month | Rain days ≥1 mm/day | Daylight hours/dayDaylight h/day |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 5.8°C1.4°C | 1.4°C | 116 | 16.7 | 7.78 h |
| February | 6.4°C1.3°C | 1.3°C | 98 | 14.5 | 9.510 h |
| March | 8.1°C2.1°C | 2.1°C | 87 | 14.5 | 11.812 h |
| April | 10.7°C3.6°C | 3.6°C | 74 | 13.8 | 14.114 h |
| May | 13.7°C6.3°C | 6.3°C | 79 | 13.6 | 16.316 h |
| June | 16.0°C9.4°C | 9.4°C | 86 | 14.2 | 17.517 h |
| July | 17.5°C11.1°C | 11.1°C | 92 | 15.5 | 16.917 h |
| August | 17.2°C10.9°C | 10.9°C | 101 | 15.7 | 15.115 h |
| September | 15.1°C9.2°C | 9.2°C | 83 | 13.3 | 12.813 h |
| October | 11.7°C6.4°C | 6.4°C | 110 | 15.5 | 10.510 h |
| November | 8.3°C3.6°C | 3.6°C | 105 | 15.9 | 8.38 h |
| December, selected | 5.9°C1.4°C | 1.4°C | 115 | 15.8 | 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
- Paisley in DecemberUnited Kingdom · 12 kmHigh 6.2°C · Low 1.8°C · 124 mm rain
- East Kilbride in DecemberUnited Kingdom · 12 kmHigh 5.3°C · Low 0.7°C · 115 mm rain
- Edinburgh in DecemberUnited Kingdom · 67 kmHigh 6.0°C · Low 2.1°C · 76 mm rain
- Dundee, United Kingdom in DecemberUnited Kingdom · 104 kmHigh 5.4°C · Low 1.1°C · 74 mm rain
- Carlisle in DecemberUnited Kingdom · 136 kmHigh 6.1°C · Low 1.5°C · 100 mm rain
- Belfast in DecemberUnited Kingdom · 176 kmHigh 7.9°C · Low 4.4°C · 82 mm rain
- Lisburn in DecemberUnited Kingdom · 187 kmHigh 7.5°C · Low 3.6°C · 82 mm rain
- Douglas in DecemberIsle of Man · 191 kmHigh 8.9°C · Low 6.6°C · 114 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 Glasgow) is explained once on the Glasgow year overview and on the Sources, method and limits page.
East Kilbride lies in the same rainfall cell, so its rainfall figures are identical to these; temperatures differ because they come from smaller 0.1° cells.