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Climate · Istanbul

Istanbul in May

Warm and mostly dry, as the days lengthen.

Typical weather, averaged over 30 years

May in Istanbul is warm: highs near 71°F, lows near 55°F. Rain falls on about one day a week, and the days lengthen by 53 minutes from the first week to the last.May in Istanbul is warm: highs near 22°C, lows near 13°C. Rain falls on about one day a week, and the days lengthen by 53 minutes from the first week to the last.

High
71°F22°Caverage
Low
55°F13°Caverage
Wet days
1a week · 21% of days
Daylight
14h 28mon average

Is May a good time to visit Istanbul?

Yes. May is one of Istanbul's best months (May to June, or September to October).

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 May sits in the year

week by week

Temperature

Highs near 71°F in May, against 51°F to 86°F through the year.Highs near 22°C in May, against 11°C to 30°C through the year.

Chance of a wet day

21% of days in May, against 14% to 46% through the year.

Cloud cover

41% cover in May, against 10% to 62% through the year.

Daylight

14h 28m in May, against 9h 16m to 15h 04m through the year.

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

Either side

  1. April62°17°low 46°low 8°2 wet days a weekRain on about two days a week.
  2. May71°22°low 55°low 13°1 wet day a weekRain on about one day a week.
  3. June80°27°low 64°low 18°2 wet days a weekRain on about two days a week.

Where Istanbul sits, in May

Europe/Istanbul
this place
typical high in May 40°F4°C95°F35°C
Sunrise, mid-May
5:47 AMsets 8:13 PM
Above the sea
40 mlow-lying
Latitude
41.0°Nnorthern hemisphere
Nearest of ours
Ankara350 km east

The land around Istanbul, shaded by its typical high in May, 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 Turkey in May

high · low · wet days
See May on the planning mapThe whole year in Istanbul

Typical weather, averaged over 30 years (1995–2024), from the 11 km grid square nearest Istanbul. 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.