Climate and average weather in Cognac

In Cognac, the summers are warm, fairly dry, and partly cloudy and the winters are cool and mostly cloudy.

Best: mid May to mid October

Over the course of the year, the temperature in Cognac typically varies from 3°C to 26°C, and is rarely below -3°C or above 32°C. August is the hottest month of the year, while January is the coldest.

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

Hottest
Aug
26°
Coldest
Jan
Wettest
Dec
81 mm
Driest
Jul
42 mm
Rain / yr
764 mm
122 wet days
Daylight
8.5–15.5 h
shortest–longest
Elevation
28 m
45.7°N
Clearest
Aug
52% cloud
Air quality
Good
PM10 15.9 µg/m³ · 2018

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

Cognac 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 mid October.

Temperature through the year

Average highAverage lowShaded bands: 10–90% of days

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

The hot season lasts 3.6 months, from June 3 to September 19, with daily high temperatures above 22°C. The hottest month of the year in Cognac is August, with an average high of 26°C and low of 15°C.

The cool season lasts 3.6 months, from November 16 to March 5, with daily high temperatures below 13°C. The coldest month of the year in Cognac is January, with an average low of 3°C and high of 9°C.

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

10°20°30°JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Avg high (°C)Avg low (°C)
Jan93
Feb113
Mar145
Apr177
May2011
Jun2414
Jul2615
Aug2615
Sep2313
Oct1810
Nov136
Dec104

How hot and cold Cognac 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 -1°C (around February 5), with roughly 44 freezing days a year (feels-like at or below 0°C), worst in February.

10°20°30°JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Feels-like high (°C)Air high (°C)Feels-like low (°C)Air low (°C)
Jan9903
Feb111103
Mar141425
Apr171757
May20201011
Jun24241414
Jul26261515
Aug26261515
Sep23231313
Oct1818910
Nov131336
Dec101014

Average hourly temperature in Cognac

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 August afternoons, near 26°C, and coldest before dawn in January, near C.

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

Cognac 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 / 7611.50.58.91.8
Feb11° / 569.50.510.12.5
Mar14° / 5910.50.111.64.1
Apr17° / 6611.3013.35.1
May20° / 11°6911.8014.76.0
Jun24° / 14°568.9015.46.9
Jul26° / 15°427.4015.17.2
Aug26° / 15°507.6013.97.1
Sep23° / 13°558.1012.37.1
Oct18° / 10°7411.2010.75.6
Nov13° / 7911.909.33.4
Dec10° / 8112.20.18.62.1

Chance of rain

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

Cognac gets about 764 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 5.2 months, from around Sep 30 to Mar 6, peaking in November at about 42% chance on a given day. The drier stretch runs the rest of the year, bottoming out around Jul 17.

December is the wettest month by volume, with 81 mm over about 12 wet days; July is the driest, with 42 mm.

0%10%20%30%40%50%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecwetterdrierwettermostly drysome rainoften wetvery wetNov 6 · 42%Jul 17 · 22%
Rain on a day (%)Rain days
Jan3712
Feb3510
Mar3311
Apr3811
May3812
Jun309
Jul237
Aug248
Sep288
Oct3711
Nov3912
Dec3912

Monthly rainfall

Over a full year, Cognac collects about 764 mm of rain across 122 wet days — roughly 64 mm in an average month.

It doesn’t fall evenly. December is the wettest month with 81 mm, while July is the driest at just 42 mm. The three wettest months alone bring about 31% of the year’s total, and some of the cold-season precipitation falls as snow.

0255075100JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec765659666956425055747981
Rainfall (mm)Rain daysSnow days
Jan76121
Feb56101
Mar59110
Apr66110
May69120
Jun5690
Jul4270
Aug5080
Sep5580
Oct74110
Nov79120
Dec81120

Clouds and sunshine

ClearMostly clearPartly cloudyMostly cloudyOvercast

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

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

The clearer part of the year begins around June 7 and lasts for 3.8 months, ending around September 29. The clearest month is August, when the sky is clear, mostly clear, or partly cloudy 56% of the time on average.

The cloudier part of the year begins around September 30 and lasts for 6.1 months, ending around April 4. The cloudiest month is December, when it is overcast or mostly cloudy 70% 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%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecJul 22 · 57%Dec 26 · 28%clearmostly clearpartly cloudymostly cloudyovercastcloudierclearercloudier
Clearer (%)Cloudier (%)
Jan3070
Feb3565
Mar3862
Apr3961
May3763
Jun4357
Jul5446
Aug5644
Sep4852
Oct3763
Nov3268
Dec3070

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 13, brings about 15 h 30 min of light; the shortest, around January 1, only 8 h 30 min — a swing of roughly 7 hours.

12 AM4 AM8 AM12 PM4 PM8 PM12 AMJanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Daylight (h)Sunrise (AM)Sunset (PM)
Jan8.98:455:36
Feb10.18:146:18
Mar11.67:236:59
Apr13.36:237:40
May14.75:368:19
Jun15.45:178:46
Jul15.15:318:42
Aug13.96:078:04
Sep12.36:467:05
Oct10.77:266:07
Nov9.38:105:24
Dec8.68:425:13

Sunny days

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

Cognac averages about 7 sunny days a month — counting the days the sky stays clear or mostly clear — with a clear seasonal swing between 5 and 11 days.

The sunnier stretch runs 3.5 months, from around Jun 14 to Sep 28. The sunniest month is August, with roughly 11 sunny days (mixed).

The greyest month is January, down near 5 sunny days — about 54% fewer than the August peak.

051015JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecgreyersunniergreyergloomymixedAug 1811 daysJan 95 days
Sunny daysSky
Jan5Gloomy
Feb6Gloomy
Mar8Gloomy
Apr7Gloomy
May6Gloomy
Jun8Mixed
Jul10Mixed
Aug11Mixed
Sep9Mixed
Oct7Gloomy
Nov6Gloomy
Dec6Gloomy

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 Cognac, how humid it feels changes dramatically over the year.

The more humid part of the year lasts 3.9 months, from around May 31 to September 26. The muggiest month is July, when the air feels humid, muggy or worse about 28% of the time.

The most comfortable stretch runs from around September 27 to May 30, 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 7 · 100%Jul 29 · 66%humidcomfortabledrycomfortablehumidcomfortable
Dry (%)Comfortable (%)Humid (%)Muggy (%)
Jan100000
Feb100000
Mar100000
Apr98200
May811630
Jun5033152
Jul3042244
Aug3238255
Sep5831111
Oct742240
Nov95500
Dec100000

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.

Across the year, average wind speed in Cognac is typically light breeze, near 12 km/h, and varies little with the seasons.

The windier part of the year lasts 6.2 months, from around Oct 17 to Apr 24. The windiest month is December, averaging about 13 km/h (light breeze).

The calmer part of the year runs from around Apr 25 to Oct 16, with August the calmest month at about 10 km/h.

05101520JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecwindiercalmerwindiercalmlight breezeDec 27 · 14 km/hAug 4 · 10 km/h
Wind speed (km/h)Feels
Jan13light breeze
Feb13light breeze
Mar13light breeze
Apr12light breeze
May12calm
Jun11calm
Jul11calm
Aug10calm
Sep11calm
Oct12light breeze
Nov13light breeze
Dec13light breeze

Best time to visit Cognac

TravelBeach/poolTemperatureCloudsPrecipitation

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

Around late May, Cognac 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 Cognac for general outdoor tourist activities is from mid May to mid October, with a peak score in the first week of September.

0246810JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecbest timetravel scoretemperaturecloudsprecipitationSep 4 · 7.5

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
Jan1.9poor
Feb2.5poor
Mar4.1fair
Apr5.1fair
May6.0good
Jun6.9good
Jul7.2good
Aug7.1good
Sep7.0good
Oct5.6good
Nov3.4poor
Dec2.1poor

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 Cognac for hot-weather activities is from mid June to mid September, with a peak score in the last week of July.

024681012JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecbest timebeach/pool scoretemperaturecloudsprecipitationJul 24 · 7.1

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 Cognac, 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 August (highs near 26°C), the essentials are light clothes and sun protection. In the cold season around January (highs near 9°C), pack a warm layer and rain gear.

Light clothing
Warm layer
Winter coat
Rain gear
Sun protection
Windbreaker

In August, Cognac sees daytime highs around 26°C and nights near 15°C. Worth packing: light clothes and sun protection. About 8 days see rain.

Sea temperature near Cognac

Average ocean temperature at the nearest coast, month by month, banded into swim-comfort zones — the other half of the beach question.

The sea at the nearest coast (about 62 km away) is warmest in August at about 21°C and coldest in February near 10°C.

It's comfortable for a long swim from Jul 19 to Aug 31 — about 1.4 months when the water holds above 20°C.

10°15°20°JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecbracingcoolrefreshing
Sea temperature (°C)Comfort
Jan11Bracing
Feb10Bracing
Mar11Bracing
Apr13Bracing
May15Cool
Jun18Cool
Jul20Refreshing
Aug21Refreshing
Sep19Cool
Oct17Cool
Nov15Bracing
Dec12Bracing

UV index (midday) in Cognac 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 Cognac peaks around July 19 at about 8 (very high) — sunscreen and a hat are worth it in the middle of the day. It bottoms out near January 1 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 highModerateLowJul 19UV 8Jan 1UV 1
UV index (midday)Level
Jan1Low
Feb2Low
Mar4Moderate
Apr6High
May6High
Jun7Very high
Jul8Very high
Aug7Very high
Sep5Moderate
Oct3Moderate
Nov2Low
Dec1Low

Average hourly UV index in Cognac

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 4.5 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
Mar40
Apr60
May71
Jun83.5
Jul84.5
Aug7.53.5
Sep50
Oct00
Nov00
Dec00
Almanac & agriculture

Growing season

Chance of a frost-free dayReliably frost-free (≥90%)

Cognac is mild enough that a frost-free day stays more likely than not even in midwinter. Nights are reliably above freezing from about March 10 to November 19 (255 days); outside that window a hard frost is an occasional risk.

0%25%50%75%100%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecreliably frost-freeMar 1090%Nov 1990%
Frost-free chance (%)Frost nights
Jan7731
Feb7628
Mar9211
Apr990
May1000
Jun1000
Jul1000
Aug1000
Sep1000
Oct990
Nov9214
Dec8031

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. Cognac banks about 1,523 degree days a year, and the running total — which growers use to time plantings and predict maturity — climbs fastest around August.

05001,0001,500JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Growing degree days (°C·days)
Jan0
Feb0
Mar4
Apr58
May167
Jun260
Jul331
Aug331
Sep232
Oct129
Nov11
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.

Cognac receives about 3.7 kWh/m² a day of solar energy on average — moderate — with a clear seasonal swing between 1.1 and 6.2 kWh/m².

The brighter stretch of the year lasts 6.1 months, from around Mar 20 to Sep 22. The brightest month is June, averaging about 6.0 kWh/m² (intense).

The dimmest month is December, down near 1.1 kWh/m² — roughly 81% less than the June peak.

01234567JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecdimmerbrighterdimmerdimmoderatebrightintenseJun 276.2 kWhDec 251.1 kWh
Solar energy (kWh/m²)Level
Jan1.3Dim
Feb2.2Moderate
Mar3.5Moderate
Apr4.8Bright
May5.6Bright
Jun6.1Intense
Jul6.0Intense
Aug5.4Bright
Sep4.1Bright
Oct2.5Moderate
Nov1.5Dim
Dec1.1Dim

Where is Cognac?

Cognac sits at 45.7°N, 0.3°W, 28 m above sea level, in France. The nearest listed city is Saintes, 24 km away.

Topography around Cognac

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

Within 3 km, the terrain around Cognac has only modest variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 64 m around an average of 27 m above sea level; within 16 km, only modest variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 164 m; within 80 km, significant variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 367 m.

The land around Cognac is covered by trees (33%), artificial surfaces (30%) and grassland (27%) within 3 km, grassland (38%), cropland (35%) and trees (21%) within 16 km, and cropland (41%), trees (28%) and grassland (21%) within 80 km.

3 km
64 m
16 km
164 m
80 km
367 m
treesgrasslandcroplandartificial surfaceswaterwetland
Nearby: Saintes 24 km · Angoulême 38 km · Royan 55 km · Rochefort 57 km · Niort 70 km · La Rochelle 82 km · Libourne 87 km · Blanquefort 91 km

France travel facts

Travel advisory
Level 2
Exercise Increased Caution
Power plugs
Type C / E
230 V · 50 Hz
Prices
≈ 77% of US
price level, 2025
GDP per capita
$48,986
2025
Happiness
6.6 / 10
World Happiness, 2025
Safe drinking water
100%
of population, 2024
Homicide rate
1.3
per 100k, 2023
Road deaths
5.1
per 100k/yr, 2019
Income group
High
World Bank
English
Moderate
EF EPI 539
Religion
Roman Catholic 47%none 33%Muslim 4%Protestant 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 Cognac (45.6958°, -0.3287°, elevation 28 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. Sea temperatures are the NOAA OISST v2.1 1991–2020 monthly climatology (public domain), sampled at the nearest ocean point. 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).