Climate averages 1991–2020
Oxford weather
in May.
A mild, moderately wet month: the 5th warmest and the joint 7th driest of the year.
Long-term climate patterns, not a forecast for a particular trip.
May is a mild month in Oxford: daytime highs average 15.8°C and nights cool to about 7.8°C. By daytime temperature it is the 5th warmest of the 12 months.
Expect about 57 mm of rain on roughly 11 days, which makes May a moderately wet month (the joint 7th driest of the 12 months). Daylight, from sunrise to sunset, lasts about 15 h 37 min on an average May day.
The nearest other city in this atlas is Aylesbury (31 km away). In May its highs average 16.0°C, about as warm as Oxford, with 57 mm of rain.
Among the 143 cities listed in the United Kingdom, Oxford ranks joint 42nd of 143 for the warmest May highs and joint 69th of 143 for the driest May (rainfall, lowest first). The mean May high of those 143 cities is 15.2°C; Oxford is 0.6°C warmer than that mean.
From May to June, average highs rise by 2.8°C to 18.7°C, and monthly rainfall falls from 57 mm to 55 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
Oxford climate table
| Month | Average highHigh / low | Average low | Rainfall mm/month | Rain days ≥1 mm/day | Daylight hours/dayDaylight h/day |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 7.0°C2.1°C | 2.1°C | 54 | 10.8 | 8.48 h |
| February | 7.5°C1.9°C | 1.9°C | 43 | 9.3 | 9.910 h |
| March | 9.9°C3.0°C | 3.0°C | 45 | 10.3 | 11.812 h |
| April | 12.7°C4.7°C | 4.7°C | 51 | 11.3 | 13.814 h |
| May, selected | 15.8°C7.8°C | 7.8°C | 57 | 10.9 | 15.616 h |
| June | 18.7°C10.7°C | 10.7°C | 55 | 10.3 | 16.617 h |
| July | 20.9°C12.9°C | 12.9°C | 58 | 10.9 | 16.216 h |
| August | 20.5°C12.8°C | 12.8°C | 61 | 10.7 | 14.615 h |
| September | 17.9°C10.7°C | 10.7°C | 54 | 9.1 | 12.713 h |
| October | 13.9°C8.0°C | 8.0°C | 63 | 11.3 | 10.711 h |
| November | 9.8°C4.8°C | 4.8°C | 62 | 11.6 | 8.99 h |
| December | 7.2°C2.6°C | 2.6°C | 57 | 10.9 | 7.98 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
- Aylesbury in MayUnited Kingdom · 31 kmHigh 16.0°C · Low 7.7°C · 57 mm rain
- High Wycombe in MayUnited Kingdom · 38 kmHigh 16.2°C · Low 7.9°C · 57 mm rain
- Reading in MayUnited Kingdom · 38 kmHigh 16.2°C · Low 8.0°C · 57 mm rain
- Swindon in MayUnited Kingdom · 42 kmHigh 15.7°C · Low 7.5°C · 61 mm rain
- Maidenhead in MayUnited Kingdom · 45 kmHigh 16.4°C · Low 8.1°C · 55 mm rain
- Milton Keynes in MayUnited Kingdom · 47 kmHigh 15.6°C · Low 7.5°C · 58 mm rain
- Bracknell in MayUnited Kingdom · 51 kmHigh 16.2°C · Low 7.8°C · 55 mm rain
- Slough in MayUnited Kingdom · 53 kmHigh 16.3°C · Low 8.2°C · 52 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 Oxford) is explained once on the Oxford year overview and on the Sources, method and limits page.