Погода: Белград, декабрь

Regulars call this a genuinely good month here, expecting shorts-and-t-shirt weather for many days running, hot by day and still warm after dark, though they're honest it can occasionally go wrong with a cooler, wetter stretch mixed in. Our row backs the warm, still-wet-enough read, 28.7C reading as a real 30C, over 18.3C nights, with 74.6mm of rain across 11.1 days - May and June are named by regulars as the wettest months of the year here, a real contrast to the brutal, near-48C heat some recent Augusts have brought. Long daylight hours make evenings on the river especially worthwhile once the day's heat eases. The record: humidity 65 percent, 12.3 hours of sun, a 13.8 kph wind and AQI 63.

Regulars give no guarantee either way for this month - it can be nice, or it can turn cold and wet, and there is real variance year to year. Our row sits at the milder end of that range, 19.6C over 10.4C, with 42.4mm of rain across 7.4 days. The practical change that matters more than the temperature is what happens to the city's floating river bars, the splavs: they keep running, but the outdoor cafe scene around Ada Ciganlija shuts down for the season, and nightlife shifts indoors rather than disappearing. Their packing advice covers both possible Octobers: summer clothes as a base, a light jacket and sweater layered over them, and a small umbrella regardless of what the forecast says on arrival. The record: humidity 71 percent, 7.7 hours of sun, a 15.3 kph wind and AQI 45.

Regulars argue for spring here by elimination: the winter is one to avoid unless you ski, the summer can be oppressively hot, and April is what is left - with the honest rider that it can be wet, though they rate it drier than May. Early April runs 10 to 20C by day and 0 to 10C at night, so layers; our row reads 19.4C over 9C, feeling like 17C and 6C, with 52.9mm across 9.9 days and a trace of snow still on the books. The city's shape is its rivers - it sits where the Sava meets the Danube - so the month's pleasures are an hour on the water and the paths out to Zemun. The record: humidity 65 percent, 10.2 hours of sun and AQI 51.

May in Belgrade is warm and wet at the same time. Regulars describe it as one of the two rainiest months of the year alongside June - our row gives 68.3mm across 12.4 precipitation days - while also saying it can be as warm as or warmer than June, warm enough that a coat is unnecessary and a jacket for the evening is the whole packing list. Our row's 23.1C day over a 13.3C night supports that. What they recommend doing with it is the river city rather than the museums: Zemun, Ada Ciganlija, the old town and the forests, with spring in Belgrade described as having a particular sense of carefree freedom. Anyone who wants the dry version is pointed at September to November. The record: humidity 66 percent, 11.1 hours of sun and AQI 55.