Cambridge Weather

The city has an oceanic climate. . Cambridge currently has two official weather observing stations, the National Institute of Agricultural Botany (NIAB), about 1 mile (2 km) north of the city boundary near Histon, and the Cambridge University Botanic Garden, about 1 mile south of the city centre. In addition, the Digital Technology Group of the University’s Department of Computer Science and Technology maintains a weather station on the West Cambridge site, displaying current weather conditions online via web browsers or an app, and also an archive dating back to 1995.

The city, like most of the UK, has a maritime climate highly influenced by the Gulf Stream. Located in the driest region of Britain, Cambridge’s rainfall averages around 570 mm (22.44 in) per year, around half the national average, The driest recent year was in 2011 with 380.4 mm (14.98 in) of rain at the Botanic Garden and 347.2 mm (13.67 in) at the NIAB site. This is just below the semi-arid precipitation threshold for the area, which is 350mm of annual precipitation. Conversely, 2012 was the wettest year on record, with 812.7 mm (32.00 in) reported. Snowfall accumulations are usually small, in part because of Cambridge’s low elevation, and low precipitation tendency during transitional snow events.

Owing to its low lying, inland, and easterly position within the British Isles, summer temperatures tend to be somewhat higher than areas further west, and often rival or even exceed those recorded in the London area. Cambridge also often records the annual highest national temperature in any given year – 30.2 °C (86.4 °F) in July 2008 at NIAB and 30.1 °C (86.2 °F) in August 2007 at the Botanic Garden are two recent examples. Other years include 1876, 1887, 1888, 1892, 1897, 1899 and 1900. The absolute maximum stands at 38.7 °C (101.7 °F) recorded on 25 July 2019 at Cambridge University Botanic Garden, which is also the national all time temperature record. Typically the temperature will reach 25.1 °C (77.2 °F) or higher on over 25 days of the year over the 1981–2010 period, with the annual warmest day averaging 31.5 °C (88.7 °F) over the same period.

The absolute minimum temperature recorded at the Botanic Garden site was −17.2 °C (1.0 °F), recorded in February 1947, although a minimum of −17.8 °C (0.0 °F) was recorded at the now defunct observatory site in December 1879. More recently the temperature fell to −15.3 °C (4.5 °F) on 11 February 2012, −12.2 °C (10.0 °F) on 22 January 2013 and −10.9 °C (12.4 °F) on 20 December 2010. The average frequency of air frosts ranges from 42.8 days at the NIAB site, to 48.3 days at the Botanic Garden per year over the 1981–2010 period. Typically the coldest night of the year at the Botanic Garden will fall to −8.0 °C (17.6 °F). Such minimum temperatures and frost averages are typical for inland areas across much of southern and central England.

Sunshine averages around 1,500 hours a year or around 35% of possible, a level typical of most locations in inland central England.

Average Temperature
Jan
41 °F
5 °C
Feb
50 °F
10 °C
Mar
52 °F
11 °C
Apr
54 °F
12 °C
May
59 °F
15 °C
Jun
63 °F
17 °C
Jul
68 °F
20 °C
Aug
70 °F
21 °C
Sep
64 °F
18 °C
Oct
55 °F
13 °C
Nov
46 °F
8 °C
Dec
46 °F
8 °C
Humidity
Jan
81%
Feb
81%
Mar
72%
Apr
71%
May
75%
Jun
81%
Jul
77%
Aug
72%
Sep
76%
Oct
84%
Nov
86%
Dec
86%
Rain
Jan
20mm
Feb
22mm
Mar
33mm
Apr
13mm
May
21mm
Jun
149mm
Jul
33mm
Aug
34mm
Sep
59mm
Oct
52mm
Nov
49mm
Dec
52mm
Clouds
Jan
65%
Feb
56%
Mar
72%
Apr
56%
May
60%
Jun
72%
Jul
63%
Aug
54%
Sep
57%
Oct
73%
Nov
79%
Dec
71%
Air quality US AQI
Jan
36
Feb
45
Mar
46
Apr
39
May
38
Jun
31
Jul
32
Aug
25
Sep
26
Oct
25
Nov
36
Dec
31
Sun
Jan
1UVI
Feb
1UVI
Mar
2UVI
Apr
3UVI
May
4UVI
Jun
4UVI
Jul
5UVI
Aug
5UVI
Sep
4UVI
Oct
2UVI
Nov
1UVI
Dec
0UVI