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Climate · Helsinki

Helsinki in January

Cold and wet, as the days lengthen.

Typical weather, averaged over 30 years

January in Helsinki is cold: highs near 31°F, lows near 21°F. Rain or snow falls on about three days a week, and the days lengthen by 1 hour 12 minutes from the first week to the last.January in Helsinki is cold: highs near -1°C, lows near -6°C. Rain or snow falls on about three days a week, and the days lengthen by 1 hour 12 minutes from the first week to the last.

High
31°F-1°Caverage
Low
21°F-6°Caverage
Wet days
3a week · 45% of days
Daylight
6h 45mon average

Is January a good time to visit Helsinki?

January sits outside Helsinki's best months, which run from July to August. Expect cold days and rain or snow on about three days a week.

How we judge it: every month is scored on how close its typical high comes to the range from 70°F to 80°F, how mild its nights are, and how rarely it rains. The best months are the run of months that scores best.How we judge it: every month is scored on how close its typical high comes to the range from 21°C to 27°C, how mild its nights are, and how rarely it rains. The best months are the run of months that scores best.

How January sits in the year

week by week

Temperature

Highs near 31°F in January, against 30°F to 73°F through the year.Highs near -1°C in January, against -1°C to 23°C through the year.

Chance of a wet day

45% of days in January, against 30% to 48% through the year.

Cloud cover

75% cover in January, against 49% to 77% through the year.

Daylight

6h 45m in January, against 5h 57m to 18h 46m through the year.

Week by week, lightly smoothed, with January shaded. The olive line marks the best months. Hover or tap a week for its figures.

Either side

  1. December36°2°low 26°low -3°3 wet days a weekRain on about three days a week.
  2. January31°-1°low 21°low -6°3 wet days a weekRain on about three days a week.
  3. February30°-1°low 19°low -7°3 wet days a weekRain on about three days a week.

Where Helsinki sits, in January

Europe/Helsinki
this place
typical high in January 40°F4°C95°F35°C
Sunrise, mid-January
9:10 AMsets 3:47 PM
Above the sea
0 mlow-lying
Latitude
60.2°Nnorthern hemisphere
Nearest of ours
Rovaniemi706 km north

The land around Helsinki, shaded by its typical high in January, the planning map's own layer. Hover the map for the figure at that spot; tap it on a phone. Clock times are local, for the 15th.

Elsewhere in Finland in January

high · low · wet days
See January on the planning mapThe whole year in Helsinki

Typical weather, averaged over 30 years (1995–2024), from the 11 km grid square nearest Helsinki. Temperatures are adjusted against 66 weather stations: daytime highs read about 3.1°F cold in the source data and are raised to match.Temperatures are adjusted against 66 weather stations: daytime highs read about 1.7°C cold in the source data and are raised to match. Daylight is calculated from latitude. Charts are lightly smoothed week to week; the figures in the table are not. Source: Copernicus ERA5-Land reanalysis; cloud cover from NASA's MERRA-2 reanalysis, on a coarser grid of about 50 km. Contains modified Copernicus Climate Change Service information 2026; neither the European Commission nor ECMWF is responsible for any use of it. These are averages, not a forecast.

Daylight is calculated from latitude. Charts are lightly smoothed week to week; the figures in the table are not.

Source: Copernicus ERA5-Land reanalysis; cloud cover from NASA's MERRA-2 reanalysis, on a coarser grid of about 50 km. Contains modified Copernicus Climate Change Service information 2026; neither the European Commission nor ECMWF is responsible for any use of it. These are averages, not a forecast.