St Ives weather in October
October in St Ives: cool, rainy, with clean air — a fair time to visit.
Updated September 2026 · climate normals from ERA5 reanalysis
#7 of 12 months in St Ives · #1208 of 1413 destinations to visit in October · comfort 57/100 (tier D)
- Days
- 15°C
- Nights
- 11°C
- Wet days
- 15
- Sun
- 6.5 h
- Humidity
- 82%
- Daylight
- 11 h

Traveller notes on St Ives in October
Other months in St Ives
Regulars are specific this counts as one of the best months to visit here, warm and still buzzing without the peak-summer crowds, quieter still once children return to school and mid-month onward the preferred window by local consensus. Our row backs that mild, genuinely wet read, 17.6C over 12.5C nights feeling 10C, with a substantial 108.6mm of rain across 14.4 days and a real 28.3 kph wind. Regulars are consistent late September into early October can bring genuinely lovely blue-sky stretches with warm sea temperatures, the town's own two-week September festival adding live music, exhibitions and theatre to the calendar. The sea sits at 16.7C. The record: 8.2 hours of sun, humidity 81 percent and AQI 52.
St Ives-forum threads on April weather call it a genuine toss-up - plenty of days good enough for sitting on the beach or a coastal walk in just a jumper, and just as many where poor weather rolls in and rearranges the day's plans entirely. Posters are consistent that Cornwall runs a few degrees milder than the rest of England, so even a middling April day here tends to feel better than the same forecast further north or east. The standing advice across every thread is the same: pack for anything, layers plus something properly waterproof, and treat any spell of sun as a bonus rather than an expectation. Regulars who've spent many spring breaks in the area say they've rarely lost an entire trip to weather, even in a wetter-than-usual April, since a walk or a museum visit fills the gaps between showers. The record: 12.9C days feeling like 10C, 7.1C nights, 66mm across 11.1 days, a bracing 10.8C sea, 78 percent humidity and wind averaging over 27 km/h.
St Ives-forum threads on May weather offer the classic English hedge: long days and light evenings give a good chance of great weather, but it's genuinely variable - some Mays deliver beautiful sunny stretches, others bring rain for days on end. What regulars keep repeating is a pattern from recent summers: the best weather has landed early in the season, in May, with July and August sometimes disappointing by comparison. The standing line is simply that you're in England and the weather could do anything at any time, but if good weather is going to show up anywhere, Cornwall's as good a bet as any. The record: 19.5C days feeling like 18C, 13.9C nights, 61mm across 10.6 days, a 16.4C sea still bracing for swimming, 79 percent humidity and wind averaging over 25 km/h.
June is the month St Ives regulars recommend for the crowd rather than the warmth: the real crush arrives with the school holidays in late July and August, so early June is not busy at all, though the end of June into early July can surprise you depending on when the holidays fall. The weather they describe as lovely when it behaves and thoroughly British when it does not - our row gives a 17.8C day that feels like 16C, with 10.9 precipitation days. The sea is the honest part: around 14C at the start of June by their reckoning, our row saying 16.5C for the month, and locals wear a summer shortie wetsuit even at the height of summer. The record: 12.2C nights, 67.2mm of rain, 11.5 hours of sun and a 24.9 kph wind.
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St Ives climate normals — October
Monthly averages from ERA5 reanalysis. AQI is the mean US Air Quality Index for the month.
Crowds in St Ives in October
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.
BusyOctober half-term in United Kingdom, school holidays in 3 of the markets that fill it(estimated)
Peak crowdsBusyShoulder seasonQuiet
Best months for St Ives's weather
Ranked by this destination's own climate comfort score across the year — a different thing from how busy it gets (see Crowds above).
Fair weatherSt Ives's weather peaks June–August, best around July.
Best weatherFair weatherToughest weather
What's on in St Ives in October
Recurring seasonal events, natural spectacles, closures and holidays — curated and sourced.
- Season
Atlantic swell at Porthmeor
15 Sep – 31 Mar · usuallySurf seasonPorthmeor only really works when the autumn and winter groundswells come in, which is exactly when the town is empty. Wetsuits every month of the year.
Nearby, and something's on
Within 300 km of St Ives — a day trip or a short hop — with something on this month. Never part of the comfort score.
Where is St Ives?
St Ives in October — FAQ
- Is October a good time to visit St Ives?
- October in St Ives: cool, rainy, with clean air — a fair time to visit. It ranks #7 of 12 months for St Ives on SeasonMap's comfort score (57/100).
- What is the weather like in St Ives in October?
- In October, St Ives averages a daily high of 15.1°C and a low of 10.7°C, with about 121.2 mm of rain over roughly 15.3 rainy days.
- What is the air quality in St Ives in October?
- St Ives has a mean US Air Quality Index of about 48 in October.
Within 300 km: Bournemouth's New Forest deer rut around 20 Sep – 31 Oct, and Newquay's Atlantic swell season around 15 Sep – 15 Apr.