Climate and average weather in Cornwall

In Cornwall, the summers are warm, showery, and partly cloudy and the winters are very cold, snowy, and mostly cloudy.

Best: mid May to late September

Over the course of the year, the temperature in Cornwall typically varies from -12°C to 26°C, and is rarely below -25°C or above 31°C. July is the hottest month of the year, while January is the coldest.

Based on the travel score, the best time of year to visit Cornwall for warm-weather activities is from mid May to late September.

Hottest
Jul
26°
Coldest
Jan
-12°
Wettest
Oct
105 mm
Driest
Feb
61 mm
Rain / yr
1072 mm
141 wet days
Daylight
8.6–15.4 h
shortest–longest
Elevation
59 m
45.0°N
Clearest
Sep
58% cloud

Cornwall is city in Ontario, Canada.

Air quality
Good
PM2.5 6 µg/m³ · 2019
Density
793/km²
people per km²
Founded
1784

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

Cornwall weather by month, at a glance

The whole year in one picture — sky, rain, humidity, temperature and travel score. Click any band to jump to its full chart.

Each stripe is one measure across the whole year, stacked so a single day reads top to bottom. The sky band runs overcast grey on top down to clear blue at the base — more blue means sunnier — followed by the rainfall curve, the humidity band, a temperature strip that tints each stretch of the year by how warm its average high is, and the travel-score line at the foot. Scan straight down any date to read that day across every measure at once; the score climbs highest around mid May to late September.

Temperature through the year

Average highAverage lowShaded bands: 10–90% of days

Daily average highs and lows in Cornwall, from 1991–2020 of climate data. The shaded bands show the range most days fall in — 10th to 90th percentile.

The hot season lasts 4.5 months, from May 13 to September 26, with daily high temperatures above 18°C. The hottest month of the year in Cornwall is July, with an average high of 26°C and low of 16°C.

The cool season lasts 3.1 months, from December 6 to March 9, with daily high temperatures below 2°C. The coldest month of the year in Cornwall is January, with an average low of -12°C and high of -4°C.

Days typically run about 9°C warmer than nights, with the widest day–night swing (around 11°C) in May.

-20°-10°10°20°30°JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Avg high (°C)Avg low (°C)
Jan-4-12
Feb-2-12
Mar3-6
Apr122
May198
Jun2413
Jul2616
Aug2515
Sep2111
Oct135
Nov6-1
Dec0-7

How hot and cold Cornwall really feels

Feels-like highFeels-like lowactual air temp

The felt-temperature range through the year — heat index on the day's high (summer humidity), wind chill on the night's low (winter wind). The dashed lines are the plain thermometer; the gap is how much hotter or colder it really feels.

On the coldest nights, wind chill pulls the feels-like down to about -20°C (around January 23), with roughly 179 freezing days a year (feels-like at or below 0°C) 105 of them bitterly cold — worst in January.

-20°-10°10°20°30°JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Feels-like high (°C)Air high (°C)Feels-like low (°C)Air low (°C)
Jan-4-4-19-12
Feb-2-2-18-12
Mar33-11-6
Apr1212-22
May191968
Jun24241313
Jul26261616
Aug25251515
Sep21211011
Oct131325
Nov66-5-1
Dec00-13-7

Average hourly temperature in Cornwall

A compact picture of the whole year, hour by hour: each column is a day, each row an hour, and the color is the modeled average temperature. Darker overlays mark night, lighter ones the civil-twilight hours around sunrise and sunset.

Read left to right for the day of the year and top to bottom for the hour of the day; the color is the modeled temperature, cool blues through to hot reds on the same scale as the other charts. A vertical slice is a single day's swing — coolest just before dawn, warmest in the mid-afternoon — while a horizontal slice follows one hour across the seasons. The darker overlay marks night and the lighter one the twilight around sunrise and sunset. Colors run warmest on July afternoons, near 26°C, and coldest before dawn in January, near -12°C.

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec12 AM2 AM4 AM6 AM8 AM10 AM12 PM2 PM4 PM6 PM8 PM10 PM12 AM

Cornwall weather by month

Every month at a glance. Click a month for its detailed page.

MonthHigh / Low (°C)Rainfall (mm)Wet daysSnow daysDaylight (hours)Travel score
Jan-4° / -12°7311.410.590.0
Feb-2° / -12°61108.710.10.0
Mar / -6°7611.2711.60.2
Apr12° / 10112.12.813.22.8
May19° / 9812.20.114.65.6
Jun24° / 13°10512.4015.46.3
Jul26° / 16°10012.9015.16.2
Aug25° / 15°9411.6013.96.6
Sep21° / 11°9310.5012.36.4
Oct13° / 105120.610.73.6
Nov / -1°8412.43.79.30.6
Dec-0° / -7°8212.49.38.60.0

Chance of rain

How likely it is to rain on a typical day, and how that shifts across the wetter and drier seasons.

Cornwall gets about 1072 mm of precipitation a year. On a typical day the chance of rain is often wet, but that rises and falls sharply with the seasons.

The wetter season lasts 3.1 months, from around Oct 11 to Jan 11, peaking in November at about 43% chance on a given day. The drier stretch runs the rest of the year, bottoming out around Aug 28.

October is the wettest month by volume, with 105 mm over about 12 wet days; February is the driest, with 61 mm. Some of the cold-season precipitation falls as snow.

0%10%20%30%40%50%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecdrierwettermostly drysome rainoften wetvery wetNov 28 · 43%Aug 28 · 33%
Rain on a day (%)Rain days
Jan3711
Feb3610
Mar3711
Apr4012
May3912
Jun4012
Jul4313
Aug3712
Sep3511
Oct3912
Nov4112
Dec4012

Monthly rainfall

Over a full year, Cornwall collects about 1072 mm of rain across 141 wet days — roughly 89 mm in an average month.

It doesn’t fall evenly. October is the wettest month with 105 mm, while February is the driest at just 61 mm. The three wettest months alone bring about 29% of the year’s total, and some of the cold-season precipitation falls as snow.

0255075100125JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec7361761019810510094931058482
Rainfall (mm)Rain daysSnow days
Jan731111
Feb61109
Mar76117
Apr101123
May98120
Jun105120
Jul100130
Aug94120
Sep93110
Oct105121
Nov84124
Dec82129

Snow in Cornwall

Average snowy days through the year, the snow-season span, and estimated snowfall — for ski trips and the perennial 'will there be snow at Christmas?' question.

Cornwall averages about 43 snowy days a year. Snow season runs roughly Oct 17 to May 3 — about 6.5 months.

January is snowiest, with roughly 10 days of snow and an estimated 45 cm of snowfall. Over the year that adds up to an estimated 223 cm of snow.

051015JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecsnow seasonsnow seasonJan 7
Snow daysSnowfall (cm)
Jan1145
Feb948
Mar741
Apr317
May01
Jun00
Jul00
Aug00
Sep00
Oct12
Nov420
Dec949

Clouds and sunshine

ClearMostly clearPartly cloudyMostly cloudyOvercast

How often the daytime sky is clear, partly cloudy or overcast.

In Cornwall, the average share of the sky covered by clouds shows significant seasonal variation over the course of the year.

The clearer part of the year begins around May 3 and lasts for 5.4 months, ending around October 14. The clearest month is August, when the sky is clear, mostly clear, or partly cloudy 52% of the time on average.

The cloudier part of the year begins around October 15 and lasts for 6.6 months, ending around May 2. The cloudiest month is December, when it is overcast or mostly cloudy 81% of the time.

0%100%10%90%20%80%30%70%40%60%50%50%60%40%70%30%80%20%90%10%100%0%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecAug 22 · 52%Dec 2 · 18%clearmostly clearpartly cloudymostly cloudyovercastcloudierclearercloudier
Clearer (%)Cloudier (%)
Jan2674
Feb3169
Mar3268
Apr3268
May3862
Jun4159
Jul4951
Aug5248
Sep4852
Oct3565
Nov2575
Dec1981

Daylight, sunrise and sunset

DaylightNight

Hours of daylight through the year, with sunrise and sunset times.

The gold band is daylight — sunrise runs along its lower edge, sunset along the upper — so it widens toward summer and pinches toward winter, with night the dark area above and below. The longest day, around June 12, brings about 15 h 24 min of light; the shortest, around January 1, only 8 h 36 min — a swing of roughly 6 h 48 min.

12 AM4 AM8 AM12 PM4 PM8 PM12 AMJanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Daylight (h)Sunrise (AM)Sunset (PM)
Jan9.07:404:36
Feb10.17:105:17
Mar11.66:205:57
Apr13.25:216:37
May14.64:367:14
Jun15.44:177:41
Jul15.14:317:38
Aug13.95:067:00
Sep12.35:446:03
Oct10.76:235:05
Nov9.37:054:23
Dec8.67:374:13

Sunny days

How many genuinely sunny days each month brings — days the sky stays clear or mostly clear — banded into plain-language zones.

Cornwall averages about 6 sunny days a month — counting the days the sky stays clear or mostly clear — with a clear seasonal swing between 3 and 10 days.

The sunnier stretch runs 5.9 months, from around Apr 23 to Oct 19. The sunniest month is September, with roughly 9 sunny days (mixed).

The greyest month is December, down near 3 sunny days — about 68% fewer than the September peak.

051015JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecgreyersunniergreyergloomymixedSep 810 daysDec 23 days
Sunny daysSky
Jan5Gloomy
Feb5Gloomy
Mar6Gloomy
Apr6Gloomy
May7Gloomy
Jun7Gloomy
Jul8Gloomy
Aug9Mixed
Sep9Mixed
Oct7Gloomy
Nov4Gloomy
Dec3Gloomy

Humidity comfort

DryComfortableHumidMuggyOppressiveMiserable

Share of days at each humidity comfort level, based on the dew point — the measure that tracks how muggy it actually feels.

Humidity comfort is graded by the dew point — the temperature at which the air would be fully saturated — because it tracks how muggy it actually feels far better than relative humidity does. A low dew point feels dry and crisp; a high one feels sticky and oppressive no matter the reading on a humidity gauge.

In Cornwall, how humid it feels changes dramatically over the year.

The more humid part of the year lasts 3.8 months, from around May 30 to September 21. The muggiest month is July, when the air feels humid, muggy or worse about 53% of the time.

The most comfortable stretch runs from around September 22 to May 29, and April is the most comfortable month — the air is dry or comfortable 100% of the time.

0%10%20%30%40%50%60%70%80%90%100%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecApr 6 · 100%Jul 26 · 41%muggyhumiddrycomfortablecomfortablehumidcomfortable
Dry (%)Comfortable (%)Humid (%)Muggy (%)Oppressive (%)
Jan1000000
Feb1000000
Mar1000000
Apr991000
May878410
Jun50231791
Jul192730203
Aug252829161
Sep60211350
Oct944200
Nov1000000
Dec1000000

Wind

Average wind speed through the year, banded into plain-language speed zones so a number reads as 'breezy' or 'calm' without knowing the scale.

This is the average sustained wind speed at the standard 10 metres above open ground — the steady flow a weather station reports, not the sharper gusts that come and go, which can run half again as fast. It's the number that says whether a place is generally breezy or calm.

Wind in Cornwall is steady company: average speeds sit near 11 km/hcalm — in every month of the year, with no meaningful windy or calm season.

05101520JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDeccalmlight breezeJan 6 · 12 km/hAug 6 · 9 km/h
Wind speed (km/h)Feels
Jan12light breeze
Feb12light breeze
Mar12calm
Apr12calm
May11calm
Jun10calm
Jul10calm
Aug10calm
Sep11calm
Oct12calm
Nov12light breeze
Dec12light breeze

Best time to visit Cornwall

TravelBeach/poolTemperatureCloudsPrecipitation

To characterize how pleasant the weather is in Cornwall throughout the year, we compute two travel scores — one for general sightseeing, one for beach and pool weather.

Around late May, Cornwall is still near the start of its best-weather window — great conditions with the peak-season crowds not yet at full swing.

Inferred from the travel-score curve; month-by-month visitor numbers are a planned addition.

The travel score favors clear, rainless days with daytime highs between 18°C and 28°C. Based on this score, the best time of year to visit Cornwall for general outdoor tourist activities is from mid May to late September, with a peak score in the last week of August.

0246810JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecbest timetravel scoretemperaturecloudsprecipitationAug 28 · 6.9

The travel score (filled area), and its constituents: the temperature score (red line), the cloud cover score (blue line), and the precipitation score (green line).

Travel score (0–10)Rating
Jan0.0poor
Feb0.0poor
Mar0.2poor
Apr2.8poor
May5.6good
Jun6.3good
Jul6.2good
Aug6.6good
Sep6.3good
Oct3.6fair
Nov0.7poor
Dec0.0poor

The beach/pool score favors clear, rainless days with daytime highs between 24°C and 34°C. Based on this score, the best time of year to visit Cornwall for hot-weather activities is from mid June to early September, with a peak score in the third week of August.

024681012JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecbest timebeach/pool scoretemperaturecloudsprecipitationAug 21 · 6.0

The beach/pool score (filled area), and its constituents: the temperature score (red line), the cloud cover score (blue line), and the precipitation score (green line).

What to pack for Cornwall, by month

EssentialRecommendedOptional

Month by month, what's worth putting in the bag — from the temperature range, rain chance, sun and wind. Tap a month for a quick packing note.

For a warm-season trip around July (highs near 26°C), the essentials are light clothes, rain gear and sun protection. In the cold season around January (highs near -4°C), pack a warm layer, a heavy coat and rain gear.

Light clothing
Warm layer
Winter coat
Rain gear
Sun protection
Windbreaker

In July, Cornwall sees daytime highs around 26°C and nights near 16°C. Worth packing: light clothes, rain gear and sun protection. About 13 days see rain.

UV index (midday) in Cornwall by month

LowModerateHighVery highExtreme

Clear-sky midday UV index through the year, shaded by the WHO exposure levels — how much sun protection each month calls for.

Under clear skies, the midday UV index in Cornwall peaks around July 14 at about 8 (very high) — sunscreen and a hat are worth it in the middle of the day. It bottoms out near January 10 at about 1 (low).

The index reaches 3 or more — the level where the WHO recommends sun protection — in 7 months of the year.

025710JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecLowModerateHighVery highModerateModerateLowJul 14UV 8Jan 10UV 1
UV index (midday)Level
Jan1Low
Feb2Low
Mar3Moderate
Apr4Moderate
May6High
Jun6High
Jul8Very high
Aug4Moderate
Sep5High
Oct3Moderate
Nov2Low
Dec1Low

Average hourly UV index in Cornwall

LowModerateHighVery highExtreme

Modeled clear-sky UV for every hour of every day — when in the day sun protection actually matters.

The whole year hour by hour: each column is a day, each row an hour, and the color is the modeled clear-sky UV index — the midday peak scaled down as the sun sits lower in the sky. Darker overlays mark night, lighter ones the civil-twilight hours around sunrise and sunset.

UV falls off far faster than brightness as the sun drops, so even in July the burn window is concentrated in the middle of the day: about 8 hours a day reach index 3 (protection recommended), and 4 hours reach 6 or more. Mornings and late afternoons stay comparatively gentle year round.

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec12 AM2 AM4 AM6 AM8 AM10 AM12 PM2 PM4 PM6 PM8 PM10 PM12 AM
UV ≥ 3 (h/day)UV ≥ 6 (h/day)
Jan00
Feb00
Mar20
Apr4.50
May6.50
Jun7.52.5
Jul84
Aug5.50
Sep50
Oct00
Nov00
Dec00
Almanac & agriculture

Growing season

Chance of a frost-free dayTypical season (≥50%)

The growing season in Cornwall typically lasts about 216 days, from around April 8 to November 9 — the span where a frost-free day is more likely than not. It is reliably frost-free from May 3 to October 12.

0%25%50%75%100%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecgrowing seasonFeb 2710%Apr 850%May 390%Oct 1290%Nov 950%Dec 3110%
Frost-free chance (%)Frost nights
Jan831
Feb628
Mar2031
Apr6630
May960
Jun1000
Jul1000
Aug1000
Sep990
Oct8519
Nov4230
Dec1531

Growing degree days

Degree days (base 10°C)Frost-free shaded

Growing degree days tally heat above 10°C: each day adds however many degrees its average temperature runs over that threshold, and cold days add nothing. Cornwall banks about 1,190 degree days a year, and the running total — which growers use to time plantings and predict maturity — climbs fastest around July.

05001,000JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Growing degree days (°C·days)
Jan0
Feb0
Mar0
Apr0
May106
Jun251
Jul337
Aug309
Sep174
Oct15
Nov0
Dec0

Solar energy

Average daily shortwave solar energy reaching the ground, banded into brightness zones so the number means something at a glance.

Solar energy is how much sunlight actually reaches the ground each day, measured in kilowatt-hours per square metre (kWh/m²) — the combined effect of how long the sun is up, how high it climbs, and how much cloud gets in the way. It's the raw fuel a solar panel has to work with: for scale, 1 kWh/m² a day is dim and wintry, while 7+ is desert-bright.

Cornwall receives about 3.7 kWh/m² a day of solar energy on average — moderate — with a clear seasonal swing between 1.2 and 6.1 kWh/m².

The brighter stretch of the year lasts 6.2 months, from around Mar 15 to Sep 20. The brightest month is June, averaging about 5.9 kWh/m² (bright).

The dimmest month is December, down near 1.2 kWh/m² — roughly 79% less than the June peak.

01234567JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecdimmerbrighterdimmerdimmoderatebrightintenseJun 246.1 kWhDec 151.2 kWh
Solar energy (kWh/m²)Level
Jan1.6Dim
Feb2.6Moderate
Mar3.8Moderate
Apr4.7Bright
May5.5Bright
Jun5.9Bright
Jul5.9Bright
Aug5.1Bright
Sep3.9Moderate
Oct2.5Moderate
Nov1.6Dim
Dec1.2Dim

Where is Cornwall?

Cornwall sits at 45.0°N, 74.7°W, 59 m above sea level, in Canada. The nearest listed city is Les Coteaux, 49 km away.

Topography around Cornwall

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

Within 3 km, the terrain around Cornwall has only modest variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 40 m around an average of 58 m above sea level; within 16 km, only modest variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 100 m; within 80 km, large variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 1,164 m.

The land around Cornwall is covered by trees (35%) and artificial surfaces (26%) within 3 km, trees (51%) within 16 km, and trees (58%) and cropland (28%) within 80 km.

3 km
40 m
16 km
100 m
80 km
1,164 m
treesgrasslandcroplandartificial surfaceswaterwetland
Nearby: Les Coteaux 49 km · Salaberry-de-Valleyfield 53 km · Saint-Lazare 63 km · Vaudreuil-Dorion 69 km · Clarence-Rockland 74 km · Orléans 78 km · Fallingbrook 78 km · Gloucester 80 km

Canada travel facts

Travel advisory
Level 1
Exercise Normal Precautions
Power plugs
Type A / B
120 V · 60 Hz
Prices
≈ 83% of US
price level, 2025
GDP per capita
$55,698
2025
Happiness
6.7 / 10
World Happiness, 2025
Safe drinking water
97%
of population, 2024
Homicide rate
2
per 100k, 2023
Road deaths
5.3
per 100k/yr, 2019
Income group
High
World Bank
Religion
Christian 53%none 35%Muslim 5%Hindu 2%

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 Cornwall (45.0181°, -74.7281°, elevation 59 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).