You are here: Home / Destinations / Sweden / All Documents - Stockholm / Stockholm - Climate

Stockholm - Climate

Seasonal climate  

  • Autumn
    Autumn is a beautiful season for its colours but it is difficult to say when it starts or ends. It varies from year to year and of course from where you live. In the Stockholm area you may start seeing leaves turning yellow already in August. October and November are usually very gray months and days are getting shorter and shorter so everybody is looking forward to some snow to brighten things up a little bit. The temperature gets increasingly colder and very quickly you enter the next season.
  • Winter
     Winters are terribly long but there are many clear, crisp sunny days. In the Stockholm area you can see snow in November but sometimes also at the beginning of May. Of course the further north you go the colder it becomes. In fact statistics show that you may experience an average of 71 days below freezing point in the south against 184 in the far north.
    The position also affects the length of daylight you may have in winter. The further north you go the shorter the day is until you reach the 66 parallel north where you will experience almost 24 hours of darkness. But already in January days start to become longer increasing about half an hour per week and by April you will start to use eye blinders if you need total darkness in order to have a good night's sleep. But before April you need to go through January and February - months famous for being very cold and icy. Many Swedes tend to go on holiday to the tropics in this period so they can recharge themselves.
    Even if this climate sounds unfriendly, you will be surprised to how many outside activities you can do. We are not talking only about the normal winter sports activities. In fact the Baltic Sea freezes every year in the north part but some years this happens even around the Stockholm archipelago. When this happens what you see is incredible! People skating from one island to another with their long distance skates or if the surface is not just right for it, they will use it to practice long distance skiing, ice-surfing, hockey, or walking and looking at the familiar view from a different perspective.
  • Spring
     It is quite difficult to talk of spring in Sweden as a season in its own right. In a way it is more appropriate to consider spring a tail end of winter. The most striking thing in the Stockholm area is the change the nature undergoes half way through May. It feels almost as if you go to sleep one night in winter and wake up the next day in summer. In fact within a week leaves will appear on the trees and spring snow drops, crocuses and daffodils bloom together with tulips and violets and other beautiful summer flowers.
  • Summer
     Summers are short. July is the focal point of the season. But of course the days are very long with 10 to11 hours of sunlight in Stockholm. The further north you go the longer the daylight and of course, above the artic circle you can experience the "midnight sun".
    A key characteristic of the summer weather in Sweden is its variability, so you should not expect fine weather every day. One day you may feel courageous and swim in the Baltic Sea, the next day you may wear a jumper and walk in the rain. In fact precipitation is greater in summer than in winter. But in spite of the weather, Swedes love to make the most of the summer and whenever they can they will be out sailing. You will be amazed at the number of boats of every type and size you will see in the southwest and southeast part of Sweden. I can assure you that sailing around the Stockholm archipelago is an experience worth having.
    For more information click www.bbc.co.uk/weather/travel/features/sweden.shtml
Climate facts

Average temperature per season min- max

  • January -5 -1
    February -5 -1
    March  -4  3
    April   1  8
    May    6 14
    June  11 19
    July   14 22
    August  13  20
    September   9  15
    October   5   9
    November   1   5
    December -2   2

To look at the average temperatures can sometimes be misleading. Keep in mind that the max.temperature recorded in July was 35 and the min. temperature recorded in January was -28.

Average rainfall per season

Clothing suggestions  

As mentioned above, different levels of cold are what characterize the weather in Sweden. There is a Swedish saying:" there is no such thing as bad weather, but bad clothing!" so even in summer you should carry a light weight jacket with you. In winter of course you need heavy warm clothes.

As long as you have rain proof jackets of various thickness in your wardrobe and good shoes (together with boots, hats, scarves and gloves) you will not have any problems.
If you decide to live in a country which lies between the 55 and the 69 parallel north, you must expect a climate which offers different levels of coldness all year round. This northern air is, however, very clear and unpolluted.

Filed under: