Været i Corfu (Kerkyra) i desember

Regulars call this potentially the very best month here, but the least predictable one too, capable of a warm, sunny stretch or genuinely cold, wet and windy days within the same visit - the island's western position facing wetter conditions than the Greek mainland's east side compounds that risk. Our row backs that mild, still-showery read, 21.1C over 10.9C nights, with 61.6mm of rain across 8.5 days and humidity at 76 percent. Regulars are consistent shorts and a t-shirt suit the day while long trousers and a jacket become necessary once evening arrives, a waterproof layer genuinely essential rather than optional. The sea sits at a cold 16.3C, not yet warm enough for most to swim comfortably. The record: 11 hours of sun, a 13.2 kph wind and AQI 48.

May divides this board along one question, whether the sea is swimmable. Some report the last two weeks perfectly fine; others call it a quick dip and out; everyone agrees it does not properly warm until mid-June, and that the west coast runs cooler again. They put the water near 21C and our column is colder still at 18.9C, so the cautious half is the one to plan on. The genuinely useful detail is their comparison: an unheated pool in May is colder than the sea, which makes a heated one worth asking about before booking. Air is 24.5C reading as 26C over 14.7C nights, with 65.8mm of rain across 9.1 days and thunderstorms possible between long sunny spells. The record: humidity 79 percent, 11.7 hours of sun and AQI 54.

Asked whether August is much hotter than July, regulars answer that on average it is barely different, and that the difference which matters is the crowd - UK school holidays and the Italian August break land together, so it is the busiest and dearest month of the year and early July costs little in weather to avoid it. The heat is real at the top end, up to 40C on the worst days, with our row at 32.4C reading as 37C. Two mitigations they mention: a breeze at night, and the cloudy or stormy couple of days that August usually throws in, flash storms at sea that take the temperature down. Our 28mm falls across 4.2 days. The record: 22.2C nights, 12.5 hours of sun and a 25.8C sea.

June is the month Corfu regulars recommend for the gap it sits in: the season has been running since mid-to-late April so everything is open, but this is not yet the July and August crush. Nowhere is overly busy, with the exception they all name - Paleokastritsa, which fills with coach trips through the day and is far busier than somewhere like Kassiopi. The weather is mostly clear and mid-to-high 20s, our row giving 29.2C, though they are honest that a June of torrential rain does happen and is not that unusual. On the sea, 24C in our row, the split is geographic: the west coast runs colder than the east, and mid-June opinion divides between warm bath water and not warm enough. The record: 19.6C nights, 4.9 precipitation days carrying 28.3mm and 13.1 hours of sun.