Climate and average weather in Douarnenez

In Douarnenez, the summers are mild, showery, and partly cloudy and the winters are cool, breezy, and partly cloudy.

Best: early June to late September

Over the course of the year, the temperature in Douarnenez typically varies from 7°C to 19°C, and is rarely below 3°C or above 22°C. August is the hottest month of the year, while February is the coldest.

Based on the travel score, the best time of year to visit Douarnenez for warm-weather activities is from early June to late September.

Hottest
Aug
19°
Coldest
Feb
Wettest
Dec
129 mm
Driest
Jul
47 mm
Rain / yr
959 mm
144 wet days
Daylight
8.1–15.9 h
shortest–longest
Elevation
23 m
48.1°N
Clearest
Jul
55% cloud

Douarnenez 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 early June to late September.

Temperature through the year

Average highAverage lowShaded bands: 10–90% of days

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

The hot season lasts 3.7 months, from June 10 to September 30, with daily high temperatures above 16°C. The hottest month of the year in Douarnenez is August, with an average high of 19°C and low of 16°C.

The cool season lasts 3.9 months, from December 3 to March 31, with daily high temperatures below 11°C. The coldest month of the year in Douarnenez is February, with an average low of 7°C and high of 9°C.

Days typically run about 3°C warmer than nights year-round.

10°15°20°25°JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Avg high (°C)Avg low (°C)
Jan107
Feb97
Mar118
Apr129
May1411
Jun1714
Jul1816
Aug1916
Sep1715
Oct1513
Nov1310
Dec118

Average hourly temperature in Douarnenez

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 19°C, and coldest before dawn in February, near C.

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

Douarnenez weather by month

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

MonthHigh / Low (°C)Rainfall (mm)Wet daysDaylight (hours)Travel score
Jan10° / 11515.78.61.8
Feb / 8612.59.91.8
Mar11° / 7012.411.62.3
Apr12° / 691113.43.1
May14° / 11°589.914.94.3
Jun17° / 14°478.915.85.5
Jul18° / 16°479.315.46.2
Aug19° / 16°54914.16.3
Sep17° / 15°609.312.45.7
Oct15° / 13°10614.110.64.2
Nov13° / 10°11715.992.9
Dec11° / 12915.68.22.2

Chance of rain

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

Douarnenez gets about 959 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 5.4 months, from around Sep 26 to Mar 9, peaking in January at about 54% chance on a given day. The drier stretch runs the rest of the year, bottoming out around Sep 3.

December is the wettest month by volume, with 129 mm over about 16 wet days; July is the driest, with 47 mm.

0%10%20%30%40%50%60%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecwetterdrierwettermostly drysome rainoften wetvery wetJan 8 · 54%Sep 3 · 25%
Rain on a day (%)Rain days
Jan5016
Feb4513
Mar3912
Apr3611
May3410
Jun309
Jul299
Aug289
Sep329
Oct4614
Nov5216
Dec5116

Monthly rainfall

Over a full year, Douarnenez collects about 959 mm of rain across 144 wet days — roughly 80 mm in an average month.

It doesn’t fall evenly. December is the wettest month with 129 mm, while July is the driest at just 47 mm. The three wettest months alone bring about 38% of the year’s total.

0255075100125150JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec1158670695847475460106117129
Rainfall (mm)Rain days
Jan11516
Feb8613
Mar7012
Apr6911
May5810
Jun479
Jul479
Aug549
Sep609
Oct10614
Nov11716
Dec12916

Clouds and sunshine

ClearMostly clearPartly cloudyMostly cloudyOvercast

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

In Douarnenez, 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 15 and lasts for 4.6 months, ending around October 2. The clearest month is July, when the sky is clear, mostly clear, or partly cloudy 54% of the time on average.

The cloudier part of the year begins around October 3 and lasts for 5.8 months, ending around March 29. The cloudiest month is January, when it is overcast or mostly cloudy 71% 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 18 · 56%Dec 29 · 24%clearmostly clearpartly cloudymostly cloudyovercastcloudierclearercloudier
Clearer (%)Cloudier (%)
Jan2971
Feb3565
Mar3763
Apr4753
May4357
Jun4951
Jul5446
Aug5248
Sep5149
Oct3961
Nov3268
Dec2971

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 21, brings about 15 h 54 min of light; the shortest, around December 21, only 8 h 06 min — a swing of roughly 7 h 48 min.

12 AM4 AM8 AM12 PM4 PM8 PM12 AMJanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Daylight (h)Sunrise (AM)Sunset (PM)
Jan8.69:105:44
Feb9.98:356:29
Mar11.67:407:14
Apr13.46:358:00
May14.95:458:42
Jun15.85:239:12
Jul15.45:399:07
Aug14.16:188:25
Sep12.47:017:22
Oct10.67:456:19
Nov9.08:335:32
Dec8.29:085:19

Sunny days

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

Douarnenez averages about 7 sunny days a month — counting the days the sky stays clear or mostly clear — with a clear seasonal swing between 4 and 11 days.

The sunnier stretch runs 4.5 months, from around May 15 to Sep 29. The sunniest month is July, with roughly 11 sunny days (mixed).

The greyest month is December, down near 4 sunny days — about 60% fewer than the July peak.

051015JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecgreyersunniergreyergloomymixedJul 1611 daysDec 294 days
Sunny daysSky
Jan5Gloomy
Feb6Gloomy
Mar7Gloomy
Apr9Mixed
May8Gloomy
Jun9Mixed
Jul11Mixed
Aug10Mixed
Sep9Mixed
Oct6Gloomy
Nov4Gloomy
Dec4Gloomy

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

The more humid part of the year lasts 3.4 months, from around June 20 to October 2. The muggiest month is August, when the air feels humid, muggy or worse about 27% of the time.

The most comfortable stretch runs from around October 3 to June 19, 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 21 · 100%Aug 8 · 68%humidcomfortabledrycomfortablehumidcomfortable
Dry (%)Comfortable (%)Humid (%)Muggy (%)
Jan100000
Feb100000
Mar100000
Apr100000
May91900
Jun603640
Jul2556190
Aug2153261
Sep4840120
Oct702820
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 Douarnenez is typically breezy, near 21 km/h, and varies moderately with the seasons.

The windier part of the year lasts 5.7 months, from around Oct 15 to Apr 4. The windiest month is January, averaging about 25 km/h (breezy).

The calmer part of the year runs from around Apr 5 to Oct 14, with August the calmest month at about 17 km/h.

051015202530JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecwindiercalmerwindiercalmlight breezebreezywindyJan 1 · 26 km/hAug 5 · 17 km/h
Wind speed (km/h)Feels
Jan25breezy
Feb24breezy
Mar22breezy
Apr21breezy
May19light breeze
Jun18light breeze
Jul18light breeze
Aug17light breeze
Sep19light breeze
Oct22breezy
Nov24breezy
Dec26breezy

Best time to visit Douarnenez

TravelBeach/poolTemperatureCloudsPrecipitation

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

Around mid September, Douarnenez is still near the tail of its best-weather window — great conditions with the peak-season crowds already thinning.

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 Douarnenez for general outdoor tourist activities is from early June to late September, with a peak score in the third week of July.

0246810JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecbest timetravel scoretemperaturecloudsprecipitationJul 20 · 6.3

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
Jan1.8poor
Feb1.8poor
Mar2.3poor
Apr3.2poor
May4.2fair
Jun5.5fair
Jul6.2good
Aug6.3good
Sep5.7good
Oct4.2fair
Nov2.9poor
Dec2.2poor

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 Douarnenez for hot-weather activities is from mid July to early September, with a peak score in the first week of August.

024681012JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecbest timebeach/pool scoretemperaturecloudsprecipitationAug 5 · 2.5

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 Douarnenez, 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 19°C), the essentials are rain gear and sun protection. In the cold season around February (highs near 9°C), pack a warm layer, rain gear and a windbreaker.

Light clothing
Warm layer
Winter coat
Rain gear
Sun protection
Windbreaker

In August, Douarnenez sees daytime highs around 19°C and nights near 16°C. Worth packing: rain gear and sun protection. About 9 days see rain.

Sea temperature near Douarnenez

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 22 km away) is warmest in August at about 16°C and coldest in February near 10°C.

The water stays below 20°C all year — cool enough that most swimmers want a wetsuit.

8°10°12°14°16°18°JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecbracingcool
Sea temperature (°C)Comfort
Jan11Bracing
Feb10Bracing
Mar10Bracing
Apr11Bracing
May13Bracing
Jun15Bracing
Jul16Cool
Aug16Cool
Sep16Cool
Oct15Bracing
Nov14Bracing
Dec12Bracing

UV index (midday) in Douarnenez 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 Douarnenez peaks around August 13 at about 7 (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 8 months of the year.

025710JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecLowModerateHighModerateLowAug 13UV 7Jan 1UV 1
UV index (midday)Level
Jan1Low
Feb1Low
Mar3Moderate
Apr5High
May6High
Jun7High
Jul6High
Aug7High
Sep5Moderate
Oct3Moderate
Nov1Low
Dec1Low

Average hourly UV index in Douarnenez

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 August the burn window is concentrated in the middle of the day: about 7 hours a day reach index 3 (protection recommended), and 3 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
Mar1.50
Apr5.50
May70
Jun7.53
Jul71.5
Aug73
Sep50
Oct10
Nov00
Dec00
Almanac & agriculture

Growing season

Chance of a frost-free dayFrost-free year round

Douarnenez is frost-free year round — even the coldest nights rarely reach freezing, so there is no start or end to the growing season.

0%25%50%75%100%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecfrost-free year round
Frost-free chance (%)Frost nights
Jan990
Feb1000
Mar1000
Apr1000
May1000
Jun1000
Jul1000
Aug1000
Sep1000
Oct1000
Nov1000
Dec1000

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. Douarnenez banks about 1,040 degree days a year, and the running total — which growers use to time plantings and predict maturity — climbs fastest around August.

02505007501,000JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Growing degree days (°C·days)
Jan0
Feb0
Mar0
Apr18
May91
Jun159
Jul213
Aug223
Sep178
Oct120
Nov39
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.

Douarnenez receives about 3.5 kWh/m² a day of solar energy on average — moderate — with a clear seasonal swing between 0.9 and 6.2 kWh/m².

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

The dimmest month is December, down near 0.9 kWh/m² — roughly 85% less than the June peak.

01234567JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecdimmerbrighterdimmerdimmoderatebrightintenseJun 206.2 kWhDec 230.9 kWh
Solar energy (kWh/m²)Level
Jan1.1Dim
Feb1.9Dim
Mar3.2Moderate
Apr4.8Bright
May5.7Bright
Jun6.1Intense
Jul5.9Bright
Aug5.0Bright
Sep3.8Moderate
Oct2.3Moderate
Nov1.3Dim
Dec0.9Dim

Where is Douarnenez?

Douarnenez sits at 48.1°N, 4.3°W, 23 m above sea level, in France. The nearest listed city is Quimper, 20 km away.

Topography around Douarnenez

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

Within 3 km, the terrain around Douarnenez has only modest variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 94 m around an average of 25 m above sea level; within 16 km, significant variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 329 m; within 80 km, significant variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 384 m.

The land around Douarnenez is covered by water (44%) and trees (27%) within 3 km, cropland (27%), water (27%) and trees (23%) within 16 km, and water (50%) within 80 km.

3 km
94 m
16 km
329 m
80 km
384 m
treesgrasslandcroplandartificial surfaceswater
Nearby: Quimper 20 km · Brest 35 km · Concarneau 39 km · Landerneau 40 km · Morlaix 65 km · Ploemeur 78 km · Lorient 81 km · Lanester 82 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 Douarnenez (48.0954°, -4.329°, elevation 23 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).