Climate averages 1991–2020
Preston weather
in December.
A cold, wet month: the 11th warmest and the wettest of the year.
Long-term climate patterns, not a forecast for a particular trip.
December is a cold month in Preston: daytime highs average 7.0°C and nights cool to about 2.9°C. By daytime temperature it is the 11th warmest of the 12 months.
Expect about 123 mm of rain on roughly 17 days, which makes December a wet month (the wettest month of the year). Daylight, from sunrise to sunset, lasts about 7 h 32 min on an average December day.
The nearest other city in this atlas is Blackburn (15 km away). In December its highs average 6.3°C, 0.7°C cooler than Preston, with 119 mm of rain.
Among the 143 cities listed in the United Kingdom, Preston ranks joint 79th of 143 for the warmest December highs and 138th of 143 for the driest December (rainfall, lowest first). The mean December high of those 143 cities is 7.2°C; Preston is 0.2°C cooler than that mean.
From December to January, average highs fall by 0.4°C to 6.6°C, and monthly rainfall falls from 123 mm to 102 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
Preston climate table
| Month | Average highHigh / low | Average low | Rainfall mm/month | Rain days ≥1 mm/day | Daylight hours/dayDaylight h/day |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 6.6°C2.5°C | 2.5°C | 102 | 16.5 | 8.18 h |
| February | 7.1°C2.2°C | 2.2°C | 87 | 14.3 | 9.710 h |
| March | 8.9°C3.1°C | 3.1°C | 81 | 14.0 | 11.812 h |
| April | 11.5°C4.7°C | 4.7°C | 72 | 13.3 | 14.014 h |
| May | 14.4°C7.6°C | 7.6°C | 78 | 13.3 | 15.916 h |
| June | 16.8°C10.5°C | 10.5°C | 89 | 14.3 | 17.017 h |
| July | 18.4°C12.5°C | 12.5°C | 98 | 16.0 | 16.517 h |
| August | 18.2°C12.5°C | 12.5°C | 112 | 16.8 | 14.815 h |
| September | 16.2°C10.6°C | 10.6°C | 97 | 13.6 | 12.813 h |
| October | 12.9°C8.1°C | 8.1°C | 116 | 16.0 | 10.611 h |
| November | 9.3°C5.2°C | 5.2°C | 116 | 17.1 | 8.69 h |
| December, selected | 7.0°C2.9°C | 2.9°C | 123 | 16.6 | 7.58 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
- Blackburn in DecemberUnited Kingdom · 15 kmHigh 6.3°C · Low 1.8°C · 119 mm rain
- Fylde in DecemberUnited Kingdom · 16 kmHigh 7.3°C · Low 3.9°C · 139 mm rain
- Blackpool in DecemberUnited Kingdom · 23 kmHigh 7.4°C · Low 4.2°C · 139 mm rain
- Southport in DecemberUnited Kingdom · 24 kmHigh 7.6°C · Low 4.2°C · 139 mm rain
- Wigan in DecemberUnited Kingdom · 25 kmHigh 7.1°C · Low 2.7°C · 98 mm rain
- Bolton in DecemberUnited Kingdom · 27 kmHigh 6.5°C · Low 2.1°C · 99 mm rain
- Burnley in DecemberUnited Kingdom · 31 kmHigh 6.2°C · Low 1.6°C · 118 mm rain
- St Helens in DecemberUnited Kingdom · 35 kmHigh 7.2°C · Low 3.0°C · 98 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 Preston) is explained once on the Preston year overview and on the Sources, method and limits page.