Погода: Милан, декабрь

Regulars are specific that this month calls for real layers - a cotton sweater and jacket plus an umbrella - since a t-shirt only makes sense on a rare, brightly sunny day rather than as a general bet. Our row backs the cool, damp read, 14.9C over 4.7C nights feeling 2C, with 78.3mm of rain across 8.4 days and only a bare trace of possible snow, 0.9cm, consistent with regulars calling real snow this time of year essentially a non-issue here. Regulars are candid that Milan's weather generally resists prediction, though April is named as typically warmer with its own reputation for rain. The record: humidity 70 percent, 8.8 hours of sun, an 11.4 kph wind and AQI 74.

The June question on this board is air conditioning, and the answer is that it is far from standard in Italy - check the listing and then check the reviews, because a room without it is a different holiday. Our row gives 28.8C reading as 30C over 18C nights, which is hot rather than extreme, at 67 percent humidity. The rain is the part visitors underestimate: 113.4mm across 10.8 days, more than May's, arriving as storms that the boards say tend to come at night and early morning rather than through the sightseeing day. Sunshine is generous at 12.8 hours inside 15.6 of daylight. The record: a dew point of 15.3C, an 11.2 kph wind and AQI 71.

Regulars put May here in the mid-twenties, warn that the evenings still want a jumper, and say rain is always a possibility. Our row makes that last point firmer than they do: 145.3mm across 15.3 days, so rain falls on half the days of the month, usually as afternoon and evening storms off the plain rather than as grey drizzle. Days reach 22.8C and read as 23C at 71 percent humidity, over 13C nights. The packing answer they give is the right one - short sleeves, long trousers, something warm for after dark, and an umbrella that lives in the bag. Daylight is 14.9 hours with 10.9 of sun. The record: a dew point of 11.3C, an 11.6 kph wind and AQI 62.

September in Milan is still hot by day - mid-20s, with the worst of the summer gone - and cool enough in the evening for a cardigan, with a folding umbrella as the standing recommendation. The date that dominates the month is Fashion Week in late September, when hotel prices run three or four times normal and, at the top end, past a thousand a night near the Duomo. The crowding is more selective than you would expect: regulars describe the Duomo square and the Galleria as busy when the sun is out and the rest of the city much as usual. Our row's 122.7mm over 10.8 days is why the umbrella. The record: 25.3C days that feel like 27C, 15.1C nights and 10 hours of sun.