Bristol weather by month
The best time to visit Bristol is June to August — 92/100 in July, 22°C and 10 rainy days. The best season is summer, June to August (90/100 on average).
The worst month is December at 54/100 — cold, rainy, clean air. See December →
Updated September 2026 · climate normals from ERA5 reanalysis
Planning the wider trip? Best time to visit United Kingdom →
Best season: June to August (90/100 on average) · worst December (54/100)
- Days
- 22°C
- Nights
- 14°C
- Wet days
- 10
- Sun
- 10.6 h
- Humidity
- 75%
- Daylight
- 16 h

Bristol, month by month
Comfort score out of 100 for the kind of trip Bristol is best for, the average high, rainy days and hours of sun a day from the climate normals, and how busy it tends to be.
What's on in Bristol through the year
Festivals, natural spectacles, holidays and the seasons to watch out for — curated and sourced. The month pages carry the detail.
- January
- Slapstick Festival20 Jan – 20 Feb (usually)Festival
- February
- Bristol Light Festival19–28 FebFestival
- May
- Love Saves The Day23–24 MayFestival
- June
- Bristol Pride27 Jun – 12 JulFestival
- July
- Bristol Harbour Festival17–19 JulFestival
- August
- Balloon Fiesta7–9 AugFestival
- September
- Bristol Doors Open Days10–21 Sep (usually)Festival
- Encounters Film Festival23–27 SepFestival
- November
- Bristol Christmas Market6 Nov – 23 DecFestival
Crowds in Bristol in July
How busy the place itself is — school and mass holidays, the months an editor tagged, and how sought-after the weather makes them. Never part of the comfort score.
Peak crowdsBristol Pride, Bristol Harbour Festival, Summer holidays in United Kingdom(estimated)
Peak crowdsBusyShoulder seasonQuiet
Good to know before you go to Bristol
Real experiences from travellers' own write-ups, quoted with a link to the original.
Visas & entry
A self-guided street art guide to Bristol, the city Lonely Planet named one of its top destinations largely for this scene, maps out the main Banksy pieces: Well Hung Lover on Park Street, Mild Mild West on Stokes Croft, and The Girl with the Pierced Eardrum on the harbourside, alongside broader hotspots in Nelson Street and Bedminster. Her practical tip was to devote a full morning to walking it self-guided with a map rather than rushing between pieces, and to budget for accommodation costs that run close to London prices even though the city itself feels far more relaxed.
Traveller notes on Bristol
What people who have been say about the place — the year-round notes first, then month by month.
Bristol forum regulars describe January as damp and grey more than harsh — good old British drizzle is close to guaranteed at some point during a visit, with rain and showers interspersed with bright winter sunshine, and wind that usually comes off the south and west rather than a cold northerly. Some regional discussions cite daytime highs as mild as 10-13°C for the wider southwest England area, though that reads a touch generous for Bristol itself in a typical year. The practical upside regulars name: quieter roads and fewer tourists than any other season, since workers are working and shoppers all spent out after the holidays. Our record: 7.5°C days, 2.3°C nights, 11 rain days and 0.9cm of snow — cool and damp rather than mild, a bit below the warmer end some regional discussions suggest.
Bristol forum discussions describe the southwest of England's winter as generally milder than much of the rest of the country, staying comparatively pleasant right up through the holidays, with one local poster noting that if a genuinely bitter cold snap is going to arrive, January or February tends to be when. Typical winter daily highs were cited around 10-13C, with Atlantic weather fronts bringing the standard pattern of rain and showers interspersed with real spells of bright winter sunshine. Posters mentioned the Harbourside area specifically as a pleasant spot for a stroll on the clear, sunny winter afternoons that do come through between the wetter stretches.
The UK forum's consistent line on early July: expect roughly 17°C on average with a real chance of rain, and treat any specific forecast as unreliable more than a few days out. Regulars across the south-west give the same standing advice for a trip to Bristol as anywhere else in Britain in summer — pack for both sun and rain, because a single day can bring either.
Add your own note from Bristol's card on the map.