Погода: Скиатос, март

Regulars are genuinely split on this month, and both accounts are real rather than one being an outlier - one visitor's mid-March trip saw four sunny days out of five, warm enough for T-shirts in the sun; another's saw heavy rain every single day for the first week. Regulars add that Greece sees a freak winter cold snap in March fairly regularly, not every year, but common enough to plan around. Our row backs the mild average sitting between those extremes, 17.6C over 8.4C nights feeling 6C, with 39mm of rain across 6.6 days and a trace of possible late snow, 0.1cm. The standard advice is packing both winter and spring clothes rather than committing to one, since nights can turn genuinely chilly even on a warm day. The sea sits at a cool 15.5C. The record: humidity 72 percent, 9.8 hours of sun, a 15.9 kph wind and AQI 46.

Regulars are specific this counts as the traditional transition month from spring into summer here, earlier May in particular the more unpredictable stretch, a mix of sunny, cloudy and rainy days all realistic within the same week. Our row backs that mild, genuinely dry read, 19.4C over 17.4C nights feeling 16C, with rain minimal at 33.2mm across 5.1 days and a real 23.9 kph wind. Regulars are consistent any rain, even a thundery burst, mostly arrives in the evening or overnight and blows across the island fairly quickly rather than settling in for a full day. Evenings turn genuinely chilly even after a warm, sunny afternoon. The sea sits at a still-nippy 17.3C. The record: 12.2 hours of sun, humidity 78 percent and AQI 50.

Regulars describe a real split within the month: it hangs onto summer at the start but turns unapologetically autumnal by the end, with one visitor's October 1st trip bringing lovely days and cold nights while another's cousin arriving on the 7th found things winding down fast, rain five days out of seven. Our row backs the average across that swing, 20.7C over 18.9C nights, with 46.9mm of rain across 6.1 days and a real 25.9 kph wind. Regulars are consistent that most beach tavernas and supermarkets close down as the month wears on, though the town itself stays open in a quieter, wind-down mode. The sea holds a warm 23.2C throughout. The record: humidity 71 percent, 9 hours of sun and AQI 44.

Regulars call September a step down from July and August with only the sea holding its ground, and they stress that the step happens inside the month: the first fortnight is usually lovely, the water warm and the mainland and Italian holidaymakers already gone, while later it turns windy enough to cancel boat trips. The meltemi is the mechanism - two or three days of gale at a time, sometimes with rain and a high sea - and it comes from the north, so the southern beaches, the ones the bus serves, are the sheltered choice on a bad day. Our row reads 24.5C air over a 24.7C sea with a 26.3 kph average wind. The record: 86.9mm across only 5 days, 10.6 hours of sun and AQI 48.

June is the month Skiathos regulars name alongside September - neither is as busy as July and August, and June has the most settled weather and the longest days, which our row's 14.9 hours of daylight and 13.1 hours of sun bear out. Their picture of a day is slightly cloudy mornings, a very hot spell from about two until half past four, and a cardigan wanted for eating outside in the evening; our row's narrow 24.1C to 22.2C spread shows less of that swing than they describe, so trust the daytime figure and pack for the evening anyway. On the sea they and we agree exactly: 22-23C early in the month against our 22.7C, warm enough for some and not for others depending on the beach and the wind. The record: 17.6mm across 2.1 days and AQI 51.