Sofia weather in May

In May, Sofia sees average daytime highs of 19°C and overnight lows near 9°C, with 70 mm of precipitation across 13.5 wet days and about 14.4 hours of daylight. It is the 5th-warmest and 1st-wettest month of the year here.

Highs climb over the month, from about 18°C in the first days to 21°C by the end. The sky is clear or mostly clear about 25% of the time in May, and the air most often feels dry.

Daylight stretches from about 13 h 48 min at the start of May to 14 h 54 min by month's end. Set against the rest of the year, May is Sofia's 7th-clearest and 4th-windiest month. For the whole year in context, see Sofia's year-round climate.

Daytime high: 19°; 5th warmest
Overnight low: 9°; 8th coldest
Precipitation: 70 mm; 13.5 wet days
Daylight: 14 h 24 min; 5:10 AM – 7:36 PM
Cloud cover: 60%; 7th clearest
Wind: 7 km/h; 4th windiest
Solar energy: 5.59 kWh/m²
Travel score: 5.7; out of 10

Sofia is capital city of Bulgaria.

Air quality: Good; PM2.5 8.9 µg/m³ · 2019
Density: 2,342/km²; people per km²
Founded: ~390 BCE

Air quality: WHO Ambient Air Quality Database. Density & description: Wikidata (CC0), GeoNames.

← April Sofia year-round climate June →Best places to visit in May

Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec

Temperature in May

Average highAverage lowShaded bands: 10–90% of days

Highs climb over the month, from about 18°C in the first days to 21°C by the end.

A typical May day in Sofia reaches about 19°C in the afternoon and slips back to 9°C overnight — a 11°C spread between the day's warmth and the night's chill. On most days the high lands between 14°C and 25°C. Set against its neighbours, May runs about 5°C warmer than April and about 4°C cooler than June.

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25	26	27	28	29	30	31
Avg high (°C)	18	18	18	18	18	18	19	19	19	19	19	19	19	19	19	20	20	20	20	20	20	20	20	20	20	20	21	21	21	21	21
Avg low (°C)	7	7	7	7	8	8	8	8	8	8	8	8	9	9	9	9	9	9	9	9	9	10	10	10	10	10	10	10	10	10	10

	Avg high (°C)	Avg low (°C)
1	18	7
2	18	7
3	18	7
4	18	7
5	18	8
6	18	8
7	19	8
8	19	8
9	19	8
10	19	8
11	19	8
12	19	8
13	19	9
14	19	9
15	19	9
16	20	9
17	20	9
18	20	9
19	20	9
20	20	9
21	20	9
22	20	10
23	20	10
24	20	10
25	20	10
26	20	10
27	21	10
28	21	10
29	21	10
30	21	10
31	21	10

How May really feels in Sofia

Once humidity and wind are folded in, May averages 0 days that feel above 32°C and 0 that feel at or below 0°C — the comfort signal a plain temperature reading hides.

Days feeling ≥ 32°C

heat index over the day's high

Days feeling ≤ 0°C

wind chill below the day's low

May sits comfortably in between — no days that feel dangerously hot or drop to a hard freeze once humidity and wind are folded in.

Sofia weather by month

How May compares with the rest of the year at a glance. May is the 5th-warmest and 1st-wettest month here — the current month is highlighted below.

Month	High / Low (°C)	Rainfall (mm)	Wet days	Snow days	Daylight (hours)	Travel score
Jan	3° / -5°	39	7.6	5.7	9.2	0.0
Feb	5° / -4°	39	7.4	6	10.3	0.3
Mar	10° / -0°	54	10.5	5.4	11.6	2.1
Apr	15° / 4°	58	11.4	1.6	13.1	4.2
May	19° / 9°	70	13.5	0.1	14.4	5.7
Jun	23° / 12°	63	11.7	0	15.1	6.7
Jul	26° / 14°	51	9.7	0	14.8	7.1
Aug	26° / 14°	35	7.2	0	13.7	7.5
Sep	22° / 10°	35	6.5	0	12.3	7.4
Oct	16° / 6°	46	6.9	0.7	10.8	5.4
Nov	9° / 1°	36	6.7	2.4	9.6	2.2
Dec	4° / -3°	45	8.6	5.6	8.9	0.0

Cloud cover in May

ClearMostly clearPartly cloudyMostly cloudyOvercast

The sky is clear or mostly clear about 25% of the time in May.

Beyond those clear spells, partly cloudy skies cover about 23% of May, with mostly cloudy or overcast conditions the remaining 52%.

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25	26	27	28	29	30	31
Clearer (%)	48	49	49	49	49	48	48	47	47	46	46	46	46	46	46	46	46	46	46	47	47	47	48	48	49	49	49	51	51	52	53
Cloudier (%)	52	51	51	51	51	52	52	53	53	54	54	54	54	54	54	54	54	54	54	53	53	53	52	52	51	51	51	49	49	48	47

	Clearer (%)	Cloudier (%)
1	48	52
2	49	51
3	49	51
4	49	51
5	49	51
6	48	52
7	48	52
8	47	53
9	47	53
10	46	54
11	46	54
12	46	54
13	46	54
14	46	54
15	46	54
16	46	54
17	46	54
18	46	54
19	46	54
20	47	53
21	47	53
22	47	53
23	48	52
24	48	52
25	49	51
26	49	51
27	49	51
28	51	49
29	51	49
30	52	48
31	53	47

Chance of precipitation in May

Any precipitation

Sofia gets around 70 mm of rain and snow over 13.5 wet days in May, the wettest month. The line is the day-by-day chance of measurable precipitation.

Day to day, the chance of measurable precipitation averages around 43% and peaks near 45% on the wettest days, and about 0 day brings snow.

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25	26	27	28	29	30	31
Rain chance (%)	40	40	40	41	41	42	42	42	43	43	43	43	44	44	44	44	44	45	45	45	45	45	45	45	44	44	44	44	43	43	43

	Rain chance (%)
1	40
2	40
3	40
4	41
5	41
6	42
7	42
8	42
9	43
10	43
11	43
12	43
13	44
14	44
15	44
16	44
17	44
18	45
19	45
20	45
21	45
22	45
23	45
24	45
25	44
26	44
27	44
28	44
29	43
30	43
31	43

Humidity in May

DryComfortableHumidMuggyOppressiveMiserable

Most of May feels dry — the stacked bands show each day's mix of comfort levels, read off the dew point.

By dew point, May lands in the dry band about 96% of days. It rarely turns muggy — the humid and sticky bands barely register.

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25	26	27	28	29	30	31
Dry (%)	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	99	99	99	99	99	98	98	98	97	97	97	96	96	96	95	95	94	93	93	92	91	89	88	86
Comfortable (%)	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	1	1	1	1	2	2	2	3	3	3	4	4	4	5	5	6	7	7	8	9	11	12	14

	Dry (%)	Comfortable (%)
1	100	0
2	100	0
3	100	0
4	100	0
5	100	0
6	100	0
7	100	0
8	99	1
9	99	1
10	99	1
11	99	1
12	99	1
13	98	2
14	98	2
15	98	2
16	97	3
17	97	3
18	97	3
19	96	4
20	96	4
21	96	4
22	95	5
23	95	5
24	94	6
25	93	7
26	93	7
27	92	8
28	91	9
29	89	11
30	88	12
31	86	14

Wind in May

Winds average 7 km/h in May.

Across May, daily wind ranges from about 7 km/h on the calmest days to 7 km/h at its breeziest. It stays fairly steady from day to day.

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25	26	27	28	29	30	31
Wind speed (km/h)	7	7	7	7	7	7	7	7	7	7	7	7	7	7	7	7	7	7	7	7	7	7	7	7	7	7	7	7	7	7	7
Feels	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm

	Wind speed (km/h)	Feels
1	7	calm
2	7	calm
3	7	calm
4	7	calm
5	7	calm
6	7	calm
7	7	calm
8	7	calm
9	7	calm
10	7	calm
11	7	calm
12	7	calm
13	7	calm
14	7	calm
15	7	calm
16	7	calm
17	7	calm
18	7	calm
19	7	calm
20	7	calm
21	7	calm
22	7	calm
23	7	calm
24	7	calm
25	7	calm
26	7	calm
27	7	calm
28	7	calm
29	7	calm
30	7	calm
31	7	calm

Sunrise & sunset in May

DaylightNight

Daylight runs from about 13 h 48 min at the start of May to 14 h 54 min by month's end. The lit band spans sunrise to sunset each day.

Days grow by about 66 minutes over May. Sunrise moves from 5:29 AM to 4:58 AM, and sunset from 7:19 PM to 7:50 PM.

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25	26	27	28	29	30	31
Daylight (h)	13.8	13.9	13.9	14.0	14.0	14.0	14.1	14.1	14.2	14.2	14.2	14.3	14.3	14.4	14.4	14.4	14.5	14.5	14.5	14.6	14.6	14.6	14.7	14.7	14.7	14.7	14.8	14.8	14.8	14.8	14.9
Sunrise (AM)	5:29	5:27	5:26	5:25	5:23	5:22	5:21	5:19	5:18	5:17	5:16	5:14	5:13	5:12	5:11	5:10	5:09	5:08	5:07	5:06	5:05	5:04	5:03	5:03	5:02	5:01	5:00	5:00	4:59	4:58	4:58
Sunset (PM)	7:19	7:20	7:21	7:23	7:24	7:25	7:26	7:27	7:28	7:29	7:30	7:32	7:33	7:34	7:35	7:36	7:37	7:38	7:39	7:40	7:41	7:42	7:43	7:44	7:45	7:46	7:47	7:48	7:49	7:49	7:50

	Daylight (h)	Sunrise (AM)	Sunset (PM)
1	13.8	5:29	7:19
2	13.9	5:27	7:20
3	13.9	5:26	7:21
4	14.0	5:25	7:23
5	14.0	5:23	7:24
6	14.0	5:22	7:25
7	14.1	5:21	7:26
8	14.1	5:19	7:27
9	14.2	5:18	7:28
10	14.2	5:17	7:29
11	14.2	5:16	7:30
12	14.3	5:14	7:32
13	14.3	5:13	7:33
14	14.4	5:12	7:34
15	14.4	5:11	7:35
16	14.4	5:10	7:36
17	14.5	5:09	7:37
18	14.5	5:08	7:38
19	14.5	5:07	7:39
20	14.6	5:06	7:40
21	14.6	5:05	7:41
22	14.6	5:04	7:42
23	14.7	5:03	7:43
24	14.7	5:03	7:44
25	14.7	5:02	7:45
26	14.7	5:01	7:46
27	14.8	5:00	7:47
28	14.8	5:00	7:48
29	14.8	4:59	7:49
30	14.8	4:58	7:49
31	14.9	4:58	7:50

Solar energy in May

Daily solar energy (kWh/m²)

Average shortwave solar energy reaching the ground each day in May, about 5.59 kWh/m².

For context, solar energy here swings from a low near 1.58 kWh/m² to a high of 6.24 kWh/m² in July across the year — May's 5.59 kWh/m² falls in the middle.

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25	26	27	28	29	30	31
Solar energy (kWh/m²)	5.4	5.4	5.5	5.5	5.5	5.5	5.5	5.5	5.5	5.5	5.5	5.5	5.5	5.5	5.6	5.6	5.6	5.6	5.6	5.6	5.6	5.6	5.7	5.7	5.7	5.7	5.7	5.8	5.8	5.8	5.8
Level	Bright	Bright	Bright	Bright	Bright	Bright	Bright	Bright	Bright	Bright	Bright	Bright	Bright	Bright	Bright	Bright	Bright	Bright	Bright	Bright	Bright	Bright	Bright	Bright	Bright	Bright	Bright	Bright	Bright	Bright	Bright

	Solar energy (kWh/m²)	Level
1	5.4	Bright
2	5.4	Bright
3	5.5	Bright
4	5.5	Bright
5	5.5	Bright
6	5.5	Bright
7	5.5	Bright
8	5.5	Bright
9	5.5	Bright
10	5.5	Bright
11	5.5	Bright
12	5.5	Bright
13	5.5	Bright
14	5.5	Bright
15	5.6	Bright
16	5.6	Bright
17	5.6	Bright
18	5.6	Bright
19	5.6	Bright
20	5.6	Bright
21	5.6	Bright
22	5.6	Bright
23	5.7	Bright
24	5.7	Bright
25	5.7	Bright
26	5.7	Bright
27	5.7	Bright
28	5.8	Bright
29	5.8	Bright
30	5.8	Bright
31	5.8	Bright

Planning a trip in May

Is May a good time to visit Sofia?

Our two travel scores rate May for general sightseeing and for beach or pool weather — 0 (poor) to 10 (ideal).

5.7

Sightseeing

5th-best month of the year

2.7

Beach & pool

5th-best month of the year

May is a reasonable time to visit Sofia for sightseeing.

What to pack for Sofia in May

From May's temperature range, rain chance, sun and wind — what's worth putting in the bag.

In May, Sofia sees daytime highs around 19°C and nights near 9°C. Worth packing: rain gear and sun protection. About 14 days see rain.

rain gearsun protection

UV index in Sofia in May

LowModerateHighVery highExtreme

Clear-sky midday UV in May peaks around 7 — enough to warrant sun protection. The full-year curve, shaded by WHO exposure level, is below.

Under clear skies, the midday UV index in Sofia peaks around July 11 at about 9 (very high) — sunscreen, a hat and midday shade are essential. It bottoms out near December 21 at about 1 (low).

The index reaches 3 or more — the level where the WHO recommends sun protection — in 8 months of the year.

	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
UV index (midday)	1	2	4	8	7	9	9	8	6	4	2	1
Level	Low	Moderate	Moderate	Very high	High	Very high	Very high	Very high	High	Moderate	Low	Low

	UV index (midday)	Level
Jan	1	Low
Feb	2	Moderate
Mar	4	Moderate
Apr	8	Very high
May	7	High
Jun	9	Very high
Jul	9	Very high
Aug	8	Very high
Sep	6	High
Oct	4	Moderate
Nov	2	Low
Dec	1	Low

Location & terrain

Where is Sofia?

Sofia sits at 42.7°N, 23.3°E, 562 m above sea level, in Bulgaria. The nearest listed city is Pernik, 26 km away.

Topography around Sofia

How much the land rises and falls, and what covers it, within 3, 16 and 80 km of Sofia.

Within 3 km, the terrain around Sofia has only modest variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 97 m around an average of 554 m above sea level; within 16 km, very significant variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 1,775 m; within 80 km, extreme variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 2,775 m.

The land around Sofia is covered by artificial surfaces (68%) and trees (29%) within 3 km, cropland (33%) and trees (31%) within 16 km, and trees (64%) and grassland (21%) within 80 km.

3 km

97 m

artificial surfaces 68%

16 km

1,775 m

cropland 33%

80 km

2,775 m

trees 64%

treesgrasslandcroplandartificial surfaceswater

← April Sofia year-round climate June →Best places to visit in May

May weather nearby: Pernik 26 km · Samokov 44 km · Botevgrad 45 km · Dupnitsa 51 km · Vratsa 60 km · Berkovitsa 62 km · Kyustendil 69 km · Panagyurishte 74 km

Bulgaria travel facts

Travel advisory: Level 1; Exercise Normal Precautions
Power plugs: Type C / F; 230 V · 50 Hz
Prices: ≈ 23% of US; price level, 2025
GDP per capita: $20,328; 2025
Happiness: 5.7 / 10; World Happiness, 2025
Safe drinking water: 96%; of population, 2024
Homicide rate: 1.1; per 100k, 2023
Road deaths: 9.2; per 100k/yr, 2019
Income group: High; World Bank
English: High; EF EPI 594
Religion

Sources: World Bank, US State Department, World Happiness Report, WHO/UNICEF, EF EPI, CIA World Factbook.

Data sources

Temperature, precipitation, cloud, humidity, wind and solar figures are a 1991–2020 climatology for Sofia (42.6975°, 23.3241°, elevation 562 m), computed from hourly ERA5 reanalysis — contains modified Copernicus Climate Change Service information. Sun figures are astronomical calculations, not observations. City data © GeoNames, CC BY 4.0. Map outlines from Natural Earth (public domain); interactive map © Google. UV index is derived from CAMS (Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service) clear-sky UV data — contains modified Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service information. Topography is sampled from the Copernicus DEM GLO-90 elevation model (© ESA/Airbus) and ESA WorldCover 2021 land cover (CC BY 4.0).

	Avg high (°C)	Avg low (°C)
1	18	7
2	18	7
3	18	7
4	18	7
5	18	8
6	18	8
7	19	8
8	19	8
9	19	8
10	19	8
11	19	8
12	19	8
13	19	9
14	19	9
15	19	9
16	20	9
17	20	9
18	20	9
19	20	9
20	20	9
21	20	9
22	20	10
23	20	10
24	20	10
25	20	10
26	20	10
27	21	10
28	21	10
29	21	10
30	21	10
31	21	10

	Clearer (%)	Cloudier (%)
1	48	52
2	49	51
3	49	51
4	49	51
5	49	51
6	48	52
7	48	52
8	47	53
9	47	53
10	46	54
11	46	54
12	46	54
13	46	54
14	46	54
15	46	54
16	46	54
17	46	54
18	46	54
19	46	54
20	47	53
21	47	53
22	47	53
23	48	52
24	48	52
25	49	51
26	49	51
27	49	51
28	51	49
29	51	49
30	52	48
31	53	47

	Rain chance (%)
1	40
2	40
3	40
4	41
5	41
6	42
7	42
8	42
9	43
10	43
11	43
12	43
13	44
14	44
15	44
16	44
17	44
18	45
19	45
20	45
21	45
22	45
23	45
24	45
25	44
26	44
27	44
28	44
29	43
30	43
31	43

	Dry (%)	Comfortable (%)
1	100	0
2	100	0
3	100	0
4	100	0
5	100	0
6	100	0
7	100	0
8	99	1
9	99	1
10	99	1
11	99	1
12	99	1
13	98	2
14	98	2
15	98	2
16	97	3
17	97	3
18	97	3
19	96	4
20	96	4
21	96	4
22	95	5
23	95	5
24	94	6
25	93	7
26	93	7
27	92	8
28	91	9
29	89	11
30	88	12
31	86	14

	Avg high (°C)	Avg low (°C)
1	18	7
2	18	7
3	18	7
4	18	7
5	18	8
6	18	8
7	19	8
8	19	8
9	19	8
10	19	8
11	19	8
12	19	8
13	19	9
14	19	9
15	19	9
16	20	9
17	20	9
18	20	9
19	20	9
20	20	9
21	20	9
22	20	10
23	20	10
24	20	10
25	20	10
26	20	10
27	21	10
28	21	10
29	21	10
30	21	10
31	21	10

	Clearer (%)	Cloudier (%)
1	48	52
2	49	51
3	49	51
4	49	51
5	49	51
6	48	52
7	48	52
8	47	53
9	47	53
10	46	54
11	46	54
12	46	54
13	46	54
14	46	54
15	46	54
16	46	54
17	46	54
18	46	54
19	46	54
20	47	53
21	47	53
22	47	53
23	48	52
24	48	52
25	49	51
26	49	51
27	49	51
28	51	49
29	51	49
30	52	48
31	53	47

	Rain chance (%)
1	40
2	40
3	40
4	41
5	41
6	42
7	42
8	42
9	43
10	43
11	43
12	43
13	44
14	44
15	44
16	44
17	44
18	45
19	45
20	45
21	45
22	45
23	45
24	45
25	44
26	44
27	44
28	44
29	43
30	43
31	43

	Dry (%)	Comfortable (%)
1	100	0
2	100	0
3	100	0
4	100	0
5	100	0
6	100	0
7	100	0
8	99	1
9	99	1
10	99	1
11	99	1
12	99	1
13	98	2
14	98	2
15	98	2
16	97	3
17	97	3
18	97	3
19	96	4
20	96	4
21	96	4
22	95	5
23	95	5
24	94	6
25	93	7
26	93	7
27	92	8
28	91	9
29	89	11
30	88	12
31	86	14

	Avg high (°C)	Avg low (°C)
1	18	7
2	18	7
3	18	7
4	18	7
5	18	8
6	18	8
7	19	8
8	19	8
9	19	8
10	19	8
11	19	8
12	19	8
13	19	9
14	19	9
15	19	9
16	20	9
17	20	9
18	20	9
19	20	9
20	20	9
21	20	9
22	20	10
23	20	10
24	20	10
25	20	10
26	20	10
27	21	10
28	21	10
29	21	10
30	21	10
31	21	10

	Clearer (%)	Cloudier (%)
1	48	52
2	49	51
3	49	51
4	49	51
5	49	51
6	48	52
7	48	52
8	47	53
9	47	53
10	46	54
11	46	54
12	46	54
13	46	54
14	46	54
15	46	54
16	46	54
17	46	54
18	46	54
19	46	54
20	47	53
21	47	53
22	47	53
23	48	52
24	48	52
25	49	51
26	49	51
27	49	51
28	51	49
29	51	49
30	52	48
31	53	47

	Rain chance (%)
1	40
2	40
3	40
4	41
5	41
6	42
7	42
8	42
9	43
10	43
11	43
12	43
13	44
14	44
15	44
16	44
17	44
18	45
19	45
20	45
21	45
22	45
23	45
24	45
25	44
26	44
27	44
28	44
29	43
30	43
31	43

	Dry (%)	Comfortable (%)
1	100	0
2	100	0
3	100	0
4	100	0
5	100	0
6	100	0
7	100	0
8	99	1
9	99	1
10	99	1
11	99	1
12	99	1
13	98	2
14	98	2
15	98	2
16	97	3
17	97	3
18	97	3
19	96	4
20	96	4
21	96	4
22	95	5
23	95	5
24	94	6
25	93	7
26	93	7
27	92	8
28	91	9
29	89	11
30	88	12
31	86	14