Climate averages 1991–2020
Plymouth weather
in May.
A mild, moderately wet month: the 5th warmest and one of the driest of the year.
Long-term climate patterns, not a forecast for a particular trip.
May is a mild month in Plymouth: daytime highs average 15.0°C and nights cool to about 9.2°C. By daytime temperature it is the 5th warmest of the 12 months.
Expect about 61 mm of rain on roughly 11 days, which makes May a moderately wet month (one of the driest months of the year). Daylight, from sunrise to sunset, lasts about 15 h 26 min on an average May day.
The nearest other city in this atlas is Exeter (59 km away). In May its highs average 15.4°C, about as warm as Plymouth, with 65 mm of rain.
Among the 143 cities listed in the United Kingdom, Plymouth ranks joint 89th of 143 for the warmest May highs and joint 90th of 143 for the driest May (rainfall, lowest first). The mean May high of those 143 cities is 15.2°C; Plymouth is 0.1°C cooler than that mean.
From May to June, average highs rise by 2.6°C to 17.6°C, and monthly rainfall stays at 61 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
Plymouth climate table
| Month | Average highHigh / low | Average low | Rainfall mm/month | Rain days ≥1 mm/day | Daylight hours/dayDaylight h/day |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 8.7°C4.9°C | 4.9°C | 102 | 15.5 | 8.69 h |
| February | 8.7°C4.4°C | 4.4°C | 77 | 12.0 | 10.010 h |
| March | 10.2°C5.2°C | 5.2°C | 67 | 11.9 | 11.812 h |
| April | 12.3°C6.5°C | 6.5°C | 63 | 11.5 | 13.814 h |
| May, selected | 15.0°C9.2°C | 9.2°C | 61 | 10.7 | 15.415 h |
| June | 17.6°C11.9°C | 11.9°C | 61 | 10.6 | 16.316 h |
| July | 19.4°C13.9°C | 13.9°C | 61 | 10.5 | 16.016 h |
| August | 19.4°C14.1°C | 14.1°C | 69 | 11.2 | 14.515 h |
| September | 17.4°C12.5°C | 12.5°C | 61 | 10.3 | 12.713 h |
| October | 14.4°C10.3°C | 10.3°C | 104 | 14.5 | 10.811 h |
| November | 11.3°C7.6°C | 7.6°C | 112 | 15.4 | 9.19 h |
| December | 9.3°C5.6°C | 5.6°C | 109 | 15.1 | 8.18 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
- Exeter in MayUnited Kingdom · 59 kmHigh 15.4°C · Low 8.4°C · 65 mm rain
- Weston-super-Mare in MayUnited Kingdom · 136 kmHigh 15.6°C · Low 8.6°C · 62 mm rain
- Swansea in MayUnited Kingdom · 140 kmHigh 14.6°C · Low 8.8°C · 72 mm rain
- Cardiff in MayUnited Kingdom · 141 kmHigh 15.2°C · Low 8.5°C · 73 mm rain
- Newport in MayUnited Kingdom · 157 kmHigh 16.0°C · Low 8.2°C · 68 mm rain
- Poole in MayUnited Kingdom · 157 kmHigh 15.4°C · Low 9.5°C · 51 mm rain
- Bristol in MayUnited Kingdom · 162 kmHigh 15.9°C · Low 8.3°C · 67 mm rain
- Bournemouth in MayUnited Kingdom · 165 kmHigh 15.5°C · Low 9.5°C · 51 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 Plymouth) is explained once on the Plymouth year overview and on the Sources, method and limits page.