Climate and average weather in Le Havre

In Le Havre, the summers are mild, showery, and partly cloudy and the winters are cool, breezy, and mostly cloudy.

Best: early June to late September

Over the course of the year, the temperature in Le Havre typically varies from 5°C to 20°C, and is rarely below -0°C or above 24°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 Le Havre for warm-weather activities is from early June to late September.

Hottest
Aug
20°
Coldest
Jan
Wettest
Dec
121 mm
Driest
Apr
59 mm
Rain / yr
949 mm
156 wet days
Daylight
7.9–16.1 h
shortest–longest
Elevation
5 m
49.5°N
Clearest
Jul
58% cloud

Le Havre is commune in Seine-Maritime, France.

Air quality
Moderate
PM2.5 10.4 µg/m³ · 2019
Density
3,961/km²
people per km²

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

Le Havre 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 Le Havre, 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 13 to September 29, with daily high temperatures above 17°C. The hottest month of the year in Le Havre is August, with an average high of 20°C and low of 16°C.

The cool season lasts 3.7 months, from November 26 to March 17, with daily high temperatures below 10°C. The coldest month of the year in Le Havre is January, with an average low of 5°C and high of 8°C.

Days typically run about 4°C warmer than nights year-round.

-5°10°15°20°25°JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Avg high (°C)Avg low (°C)
Jan85
Feb85
Mar106
Apr128
May1511
Jun1813
Jul2015
Aug2016
Sep1814
Oct1511
Nov118
Dec96

Average hourly temperature in Le Havre

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 20°C, and coldest before dawn in January, near C.

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

Le Havre 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 / 8715.10.58.41.2
Feb / 7013.10.89.81.2
Mar10° / 6612.20.311.52.1
Apr12° / 5911.3013.43.1
May15° / 11°5910.9015.14.3
Jun18° / 13°6010.70165.5
Jul20° / 15°6111015.66.2
Aug20° / 16°7311.8014.26.1
Sep18° / 14°7811.7012.45.6
Oct15° / 11°10414.9010.54.1
Nov11° / 11116.30.18.92.4
Dec / 12116.60.481.4

Chance of rain

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

Le Havre gets about 949 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 24 to Mar 6, peaking in November at about 55% chance on a given day. The drier stretch runs the rest of the year, bottoming out around Jul 22.

December is the wettest month by volume, with 121 mm over about 17 wet days; April is the driest, with 59 mm.

0%10%20%30%40%50%60%70%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecwetterdrierwettermostly drysome rainoften wetvery wetNov 10 · 55%Jul 22 · 33%
Rain on a day (%)Rain days
Jan4915
Feb4713
Mar3912
Apr3711
May3611
Jun3611
Jul3511
Aug3712
Sep4012
Oct4815
Nov5416
Dec5317

Monthly rainfall

Over a full year, Le Havre collects about 949 mm of rain across 156 wet days — roughly 79 mm in an average month.

It doesn’t fall evenly. December is the wettest month with 121 mm, while April is the driest at just 59 mm. The three wettest months alone bring about 35% of the year’s total, and some of the cold-season precipitation falls as snow.

0255075100125150JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec877066595960617378104111121
Rainfall (mm)Rain daysSnow days
Jan87151
Feb70131
Mar66120
Apr59110
May59110
Jun60110
Jul61110
Aug73120
Sep78120
Oct104150
Nov111160
Dec121170

Clouds and sunshine

ClearMostly clearPartly cloudyMostly cloudyOvercast

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

In Le Havre, 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 May 14 and lasts for 4.6 months, ending around September 29. The clearest month is July, when the sky is clear, mostly clear, or partly cloudy 49% of the time on average.

The cloudier part of the year begins around September 30 and lasts for 5.7 months, ending around March 22. The cloudiest month is January, when it is overcast or mostly cloudy 73% 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 26 · 50%Nov 27 · 25%clearmostly clearpartly cloudymostly cloudyovercastcloudierclearercloudier
Clearer (%)Cloudier (%)
Jan2773
Feb3169
Mar3565
Apr4258
May3862
Jun4357
Jul4951
Aug4852
Sep4258
Oct3466
Nov2872
Dec2773

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 18, brings about 16 h 06 min of light; the shortest, around December 18, only 7 h 54 min — a swing of roughly 8 h 12 min.

12 AM4 AM8 AM12 PM4 PM8 PM12 AMJanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Daylight (h)Sunrise (AM)Sunset (PM)
Jan8.48:575:20
Feb9.88:206:08
Mar11.57:236:56
Apr13.46:157:44
May15.15:228:29
Jun16.04:599:01
Jul15.65:158:55
Aug14.25:578:11
Sep12.46:437:05
Oct10.57:305:59
Nov8.98:205:09
Dec8.08:574:55

Sunny days

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

Le Havre 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 9 days.

The sunnier stretch runs 4.7 months, from around May 8 to Sep 26. The sunniest month is July, with roughly 9 sunny days (mixed).

The greyest month is November, down near 3 sunny days — about 62% fewer than the July peak.

051015JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecgreyersunniergreyergloomymixedJul 199 daysNov 273 days
Sunny daysSky
Jan4Gloomy
Feb4Gloomy
Mar6Gloomy
Apr8Gloomy
May7Gloomy
Jun8Gloomy
Jul9Mixed
Aug8Gloomy
Sep7Gloomy
Oct5Gloomy
Nov3Gloomy
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 Le Havre, how humid it feels changes noticeably over the year.

The more humid part of the year lasts 3.1 months, from around June 20 to September 22. The muggiest month is August, when the air feels humid, muggy or worse about 23% of the time.

The most comfortable stretch runs from around September 23 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 25 · 100%Aug 8 · 74%humiddrycomfortablecomfortablehumidcomfortable
Dry (%)Comfortable (%)Humid (%)Muggy (%)
Jan100000
Feb100000
Mar100000
Apr100000
May92800
Jun663030
Jul3054150
Aug2651221
Sep583480
Oct821810
Nov98200
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 Le Havre is typically light breeze, near 20 km/h, and varies moderately with the seasons.

The windier part of the year lasts 5.6 months, from around Oct 4 to Mar 23. The windiest month is January, averaging about 23 km/h (breezy).

The calmer part of the year runs from around Mar 24 to Oct 3, with August the calmest month at about 16 km/h.

051015202530JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecwindiercalmerwindiercalmlight breezebreezywindyJan 7 · 23 km/hAug 2 · 16 km/h
Wind speed (km/h)Feels
Jan23breezy
Feb22breezy
Mar20breezy
Apr18light breeze
May18light breeze
Jun17light breeze
Jul17light breeze
Aug16light breeze
Sep18light breeze
Oct21breezy
Nov22breezy
Dec23breezy

Best time to visit Le Havre

TravelBeach/poolTemperatureCloudsPrecipitation

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

Around late September, Le Havre 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 Le Havre for general outdoor tourist activities is from early June to late September, with a peak score in the last week of July.

0246810JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecbest timetravel scoretemperaturecloudsprecipitationJul 25 · 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
Jan1.2poor
Feb1.3poor
Mar2.1poor
Apr3.1poor
May4.3fair
Jun5.5good
Jul6.2good
Aug6.1good
Sep5.6good
Oct4.1fair
Nov2.4poor
Dec1.4poor

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 Le Havre for hot-weather activities is from mid July to late August, with a peak score in the first week of August.

024681012JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecbest timebeach/pool scoretemperaturecloudsprecipitationAug 2 · 3.6

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 Le Havre, 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 20°C), the essentials are rain gear and sun protection. In the cold season around January (highs near 8°C), pack a warm layer, a heavy coat, rain gear and a windbreaker.

Light clothing
Warm layer
Winter coat
Rain gear
Sun protection
Windbreaker

In August, Le Havre sees daytime highs around 20°C and nights near 16°C. Worth packing: rain gear and sun protection. About 12 days see rain.

Sea temperature near Le Havre

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 13 km away) is warmest in August at about 19°C and coldest in February near 8°C.

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

5°10°15°20°JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecbracingcoolrefreshing
Sea temperature (°C)Comfort
Jan8Bracing
Feb8Bracing
Mar8Bracing
Apr10Bracing
May12Bracing
Jun15Cool
Jul18Cool
Aug19Cool
Sep18Cool
Oct16Cool
Nov13Bracing
Dec10Bracing

UV index (midday) in Le Havre 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 Le Havre peaks around June 18 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 6 months of the year.

025710JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecLowModerateHighModerateLowJun 18UV 7Jan 1UV 1
UV index (midday)Level
Jan1Low
Feb2Low
Mar3Moderate
Apr5Moderate
May6High
Jun7High
Jul6High
Aug7High
Sep4Moderate
Oct3Moderate
Nov1Low
Dec1Low

Average hourly UV index in Le Havre

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 June the burn window is concentrated in the middle of the day: about 8 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
Mar00
Apr50
May70
Jun83
Jul7.52
Aug72
Sep4.50
Oct00
Nov00
Dec00

Air quality in Le Havre by month

GoodModeratePoorUnhealthyVery unhealthy

Average fine-particle pollution (PM2.5) through the year — so you can see which months the air is worst, not just the yearly average.

Air quality in Le Havre is worst in April — around 15 µg/m³ PM2.5 (moderate), about 2.1× the cleanest month (November, 7 µg/m³).

Seasonal pattern from CAMS reanalysis, scaled to Le Havre's WHO annual average of 10.4 µg/m³.

01020JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecGoodModerateGoodApr 1515 µg/m³Nov 187 µg/m³
PM2.5 (µg/m³)Level
Jan8Good
Feb10Good
Mar14Moderate
Apr15Moderate
May13Moderate
Jun12Good
Jul10Good
Aug10Good
Sep10Good
Oct8Good
Nov7Good
Dec8Good
Almanac & agriculture

Growing season

Chance of a frost-free day

Le Havre is mild enough that a frost-free day stays more likely than not even in midwinter.

0%25%50%75%100%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Frost-free chance (%)Frost nights
Jan9216
Feb943
Mar990
Apr1000
May1000
Jun1000
Jul1000
Aug1000
Sep1000
Oct1000
Nov1000
Dec952

Growing degree days

Degree days (base 10°C)

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. Le Havre banks about 1,035 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
Apr9
May84
Jun163
Jul232
Aug247
Sep185
Oct105
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.

Le Havre receives about 3.4 kWh/m² a day of solar energy on average — moderate — with a clear seasonal swing between 0.8 and 6.0 kWh/m².

The brighter stretch of the year lasts 6.0 months, from around Mar 22 to Sep 19. The brightest month is June, averaging about 5.9 kWh/m² (bright).

The dimmest month is December, down near 0.8 kWh/m² — roughly 86% less than the June peak.

01234567JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecdimmerbrighterdimmerdimmoderatebrightintenseJun 226.0 kWhDec 220.8 kWh
Solar energy (kWh/m²)Level
Jan1.0Dim
Feb1.8Dim
Mar3.1Moderate
Apr4.7Bright
May5.5Bright
Jun6.0Bright
Jul5.7Bright
Aug4.9Bright
Sep3.6Moderate
Oct2.1Moderate
Nov1.2Dim
Dec0.8Dim

Where is Le Havre?

Le Havre sits at 49.5°N, 0.1°E, 5 m above sea level, in France. The nearest listed city is Montivilliers, 8.0 km away.

Topography around Le Havre

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

Within 3 km, the terrain around Le Havre has only modest variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 109 m around an average of 28 m above sea level; within 16 km, only modest variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 168 m; within 80 km, significant variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 382 m.

The land around Le Havre is covered by artificial surfaces (50%) and water (37%) within 3 km, water (56%) within 16 km, and water (32%) and cropland (31%) within 80 km.

3 km
109 m
16 km
168 m
80 km
382 m
treesgrasslandcroplandartificial surfacesbare terrainwaterwetland
Nearby: Montivilliers 8.0 km · Deauville 15 km · Fécamp 35 km · Lisieux 40 km · Hérouville-Saint-Clair 43 km · Caen 48 km · Bayeux 63 km · Canteleu 67 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 Le Havre (49.4935°, 0.1079°, elevation 5 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. Monthly air-quality (PM2.5) seasonality is from the CAMS EAC4 reanalysis (Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service), scaled to the WHO annual mean where available. Topography is sampled from the Copernicus DEM GLO-90 elevation model (© ESA/Airbus) and ESA WorldCover 2021 land cover (CC BY 4.0).