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Climate · Edinburgh

Edinburgh in May

Cool and wet, as the days lengthen.

Typical weather, averaged over 30 years

May in Edinburgh is cool: highs near 59°F, lows near 43°F. Rain falls on about four days a week, and the days lengthen by 1 hour 40 minutes from the first week to the last.May in Edinburgh is cool: highs near 15°C, lows near 6°C. Rain falls on about four days a week, and the days lengthen by 1 hour 40 minutes from the first week to the last.

High
59°F15°Caverage
Low
43°F6°Caverage
Wet days
4a week · 52% of days
Daylight
16h 18mon average

Is May a good time to visit Edinburgh?

May sits outside Edinburgh's best months, which run from July to August. Expect cool days and rain on about four 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 May sits in the year

week by week

Temperature

Highs near 59°F in May, against 45°F to 67°F through the year.Highs near 15°C in May, against 7°C to 19°C through the year.

Chance of a wet day

52% of days in May, against 40% to 54% through the year.

Cloud cover

60% cover in May, against 57% to 69% through the year.

Daylight

16h 18m in May, against 7h 03m to 17h 30m 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. April54°12°low 39°low 4°3 wet days a weekRain on about three days a week.
  2. May59°15°low 43°low 6°4 wet days a weekRain on about four days a week.
  3. June64°18°low 49°low 9°4 wet days a weekRain on about four days a week.

Where Edinburgh sits, in May

Europe/London
this place
typical high in May 40°F4°C95°F35°C
Sunrise, mid-May
5:01 AMsets 9:16 PM
Above the sea
70 mlow-lying
Latitude
56.0°Nnorthern hemisphere
Nearest of ours
Troon103 km south-west

The land around Edinburgh, 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 United Kingdom in May

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

Typical weather, averaged over 30 years (1995–2024), read 6 km south of Edinburgh. Its own grid square is mostly sea and holds only a daily average, so the page reads the nearest square with a true high and low near the town's height. Temperatures are adjusted against 66 weather stations: daytime highs read about 3.1°F cold in the source data and are raised to match, and both highs and lows are adjusted for the town's height (70 m) against the climate model's (152 m).Temperatures are adjusted against 66 weather stations: daytime highs read about 1.7°C cold in the source data and are raised to match, and both highs and lows are adjusted for the town's height (70 m) against the climate model's (152 m). 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.