Climate and average weather in Zwickau

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

Best: late May to late September

Over the course of the year, the temperature in Zwickau typically varies from -2°C to 23°C, and is rarely below -10°C or above 30°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 Zwickau for warm-weather activities is from late May to late September.

Hottest
Jul
23°
Coldest
Jan
-2°
Wettest
Jul
94 mm
Driest
Apr
51 mm
Rain / yr
838 mm
149 wet days
Daylight
7.7–16.3 h
shortest–longest
Elevation
267 m
50.7°N
Clearest
Aug
61% cloud
Air quality
Good
PM10 16.5 µg/m³ · 2019

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

Zwickau 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 late May to late September.

Temperature through the year

Average highAverage lowShaded bands: 10–90% of days

Daily average highs and lows in Zwickau, 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 May 25 to September 13, with daily high temperatures above 18°C. The hottest month of the year in Zwickau is July, with an average high of 23°C and low of 13°C.

The cool season lasts 3.6 months, from November 16 to March 6, with daily high temperatures below 6°C. The coldest month of the year in Zwickau is January, with an average low of -2°C and high of 2°C.

Days typically run about 7°C warmer than nights, with the widest day–night swing (around 9°C) in August.

-10°10°20°30°JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Avg high (°C)Avg low (°C)
Jan2-2
Feb4-2
Mar81
Apr134
May178
Jun2011
Jul2313
Aug2213
Sep1810
Oct136
Nov72
Dec3-1

How hot and cold Zwickau 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 -7°C (around January 26), with roughly 152 freezing days a year (feels-like at or below 0°C), worst in January.

-10°10°20°JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Feels-like high (°C)Air high (°C)Feels-like low (°C)Air low (°C)
Jan22-7-2
Feb44-6-2
Mar88-31
Apr131314
May171768
Jun20201111
Jul23231313
Aug22221313
Sep1818910
Oct131336
Nov77-12
Dec33-5-1

Average hourly temperature in Zwickau

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 23°C, and coldest before dawn in January, near -2°C.

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

Zwickau 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 / -2°6813.67.58.20.0
Feb / -2°5311.56.59.70.0
Mar / 6713.6511.51.1
Apr13° / 5110.71.413.53.4
May17° / 7513.3015.25.1
Jun20° / 11°8312.6016.25.8
Jul23° / 13°9413.1015.86.3
Aug22° / 13°7912.4014.36.4
Sep18° / 10°6911.2012.45.5
Oct13° / 6411.30.410.43.3
Nov / 6611.73.28.70.8
Dec / -1°7013.967.80.0

Chance of rain

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

Zwickau gets about 838 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 1.9 months, from around Dec 4 to Jan 31, peaking in December at about 47% chance on a given day. The drier stretch runs the rest of the year, bottoming out around Sep 21.

July is the wettest month by volume, with 94 mm over about 13 wet days; April is the driest, with 51 mm. Some of the cold-season precipitation falls as snow.

0%10%20%30%40%50%60%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecwetterdrierwettermostly drysome rainoften wetvery wetDec 18 · 47%Sep 21 · 35%
Rain on a day (%)Rain days
Jan4314
Feb4212
Mar4314
Apr3711
May4213
Jun4213
Jul4213
Aug4012
Sep3811
Oct3611
Nov3912
Dec4514

Monthly rainfall

Over a full year, Zwickau collects about 838 mm of rain across 149 wet days — roughly 70 mm in an average month.

It doesn’t fall evenly. July is the wettest month with 94 mm, while April is the driest at just 51 mm. The three wettest months alone bring about 30% of the year’s total, and some of the cold-season precipitation falls as snow.

0255075100125JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec685367517583947969646670
Rainfall (mm)Rain daysSnow days
Jan68148
Feb53127
Mar67145
Apr51111
May75130
Jun83130
Jul94130
Aug79120
Sep69110
Oct64110
Nov66123
Dec70146

Snow in Zwickau

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.

Zwickau averages about 30 snowy days a year. Snow season runs roughly Oct 20 to Apr 28 — about 6.3 months.

January is snowiest, with roughly 7 days of snow and an estimated 27 cm of snowfall. Over the year that adds up to an estimated 118 cm of snow.

0246810JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecsnow seasonsnow seasonJan 26
Snow daysSnowfall (cm)
Jan827
Feb728
Mar517
Apr15
May00
Jun00
Jul00
Aug00
Sep00
Oct02
Nov314
Dec625

Clouds and sunshine

ClearMostly clearPartly cloudyMostly cloudyOvercast

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

In Zwickau, 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 April 10 and lasts for 5.6 months, ending around September 26. The clearest month is August, when the sky is clear, mostly clear, or partly cloudy 44% of the time on average.

The cloudier part of the year begins around October 24 and lasts for 5.5 months, ending around April 9. The cloudiest month is December, when it is overcast or mostly cloudy 77% 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 2 · 49%Dec 20 · 22%clearmostly clearpartly cloudymostly cloudyovercastcloudierclearercloudier
Clearer (%)Cloudier (%)
Jan2773
Feb2872
Mar3070
Apr3664
May3565
Jun3664
Jul4258
Aug4456
Sep3664
Oct3367
Nov2872
Dec2377

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 18 min of light; the shortest, around December 18, only 7 h 42 min — a swing of roughly 8 h 36 min.

12 AM4 AM8 AM12 PM4 PM8 PM12 AMJanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Daylight (h)Sunrise (AM)Sunset (PM)
Jan8.28:134:25
Feb9.77:345:15
Mar11.56:346:05
Apr13.55:246:57
May15.24:287:44
Jun16.24:038:17
Jul15.84:208:11
Aug14.35:047:24
Sep12.45:536:16
Oct10.46:425:08
Nov8.77:354:15
Dec7.88:133:59

Sunny days

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

Zwickau averages about 6 sunny days a month — counting the days the sky stays clear or mostly clear — with a clear seasonal swing between 4 and 8 days.

The sunnier stretch runs 3.0 months, from around Jun 30 to Sep 28. The sunniest month is August, with roughly 8 sunny days (gloomy).

The greyest month is November, down near 5 sunny days — about 39% fewer than the August peak.

051015JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecgreyersunniergreyergloomymixedAug 68 daysNov 184 days
Sunny daysSky
Jan6Gloomy
Feb4Gloomy
Mar6Gloomy
Apr7Gloomy
May6Gloomy
Jun6Gloomy
Jul7Gloomy
Aug8Gloomy
Sep7Gloomy
Oct6Gloomy
Nov5Gloomy
Dec5Gloomy

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 Zwickau, the air stays dry or comfortable essentially all year. Even in July, the muggiest month, it feels humid or worse only about 10% of the time — humidity is not something you need to plan around here.

0%10%20%30%40%50%60%70%80%90%100%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecApr 27 · 100%Jul 29 · 87%humidcomfortabledrycomfortablehumidcomfortable
Dry (%)Comfortable (%)Humid (%)
Jan10000
Feb10000
Mar10000
Apr10000
May9450
Jun76195
Jul593110
Aug59329
Sep87112
Oct9910
Nov10000
Dec10000

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 Zwickau is typically calm, near 12 km/h, and varies moderately with the seasons.

The windier part of the year lasts 5.6 months, from around Oct 13 to Mar 30. The windiest month is January, averaging about 15 km/h (light breeze).

The calmer part of the year runs from around Mar 31 to Oct 12, with August the calmest month at about 10 km/h.

05101520JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecwindiercalmerwindiercalmlight breezeJan 4 · 15 km/hAug 1 · 9 km/h
Wind speed (km/h)Feels
Jan15light breeze
Feb14light breeze
Mar13light breeze
Apr11calm
May11calm
Jun10calm
Jul10calm
Aug10calm
Sep11calm
Oct12light breeze
Nov13light breeze
Dec15light breeze

Best time to visit Zwickau

TravelBeach/poolTemperatureCloudsPrecipitation

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

Around early June, Zwickau 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 Zwickau for general outdoor tourist activities is from late May to late September, with a peak score in the first week of August.

0246810JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecbest timetravel scoretemperaturecloudsprecipitationAug 1 · 6.7

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
Mar1.1poor
Apr3.4poor
May5.1fair
Jun5.8good
Jul6.3good
Aug6.3good
Sep5.4fair
Oct3.3poor
Nov0.8poor
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 Zwickau 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 1 · 5.4

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 Zwickau, 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 23°C), the essentials are light clothes, rain gear and sun protection. In the cold season around January (highs near 2°C), pack a warm layer, a heavy coat and rain gear.

Light clothing
Warm layer
Winter coat
Rain gear
Sun protection
Windbreaker

In July, Zwickau sees daytime highs around 23°C and nights near 13°C. Worth packing: light clothes, rain gear and sun protection. About 13 days see rain.

UV index (midday) in Zwickau 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 Zwickau peaks around July 13 at about 7 (high) — sunscreen and a hat are worth it in the middle of the day. It bottoms out near December 22 at about 1 (low).

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

025710JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecLowModerateHighModerateLowJul 13UV 7Dec 22UV 1
UV index (midday)Level
Jan1Low
Feb1Low
Mar4Moderate
Apr4Moderate
May6High
Jun7High
Jul7High
Aug6High
Sep4Moderate
Oct2Moderate
Nov1Low
Dec1Low

Average hourly UV index in Zwickau

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 3.5 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
Mar2.50
Apr40
May70
Jun7.53
Jul83.5
Aug71.5
Sep40
Oct00
Nov00
Dec00

Air quality in Zwickau 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 Zwickau is worst in June — around 15 µg/m³ PM2.5 (moderate), about 1.9× the cleanest month (December, 8 µg/m³).

Modeled monthly averages (CAMS reanalysis, 2015–2024).

01020JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecGoodModerateGoodJun 1515 µg/m³Dec 128 µg/m³
PM2.5 (µg/m³)Level
Jan10Good
Feb10Good
Mar14Moderate
Apr15Moderate
May13Moderate
Jun15Moderate
Jul13Moderate
Aug13Moderate
Sep12Good
Oct10Good
Nov9Good
Dec8Good
Almanac & agriculture

Growing season

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

The growing season in Zwickau typically lasts about 276 days, from around March 5 to December 5 — the span where a frost-free day is more likely than not. It is reliably frost-free from April 23 to October 18.

0%25%50%75%100%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecgrowing seasonMar 550%Apr 2390%Oct 1890%Dec 550%
Frost-free chance (%)Frost nights
Jan3631
Feb3728
Mar5931
Apr8523
May990
Jun1000
Jul1000
Aug1000
Sep1000
Oct9316
Nov7230
Dec4531

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. Zwickau banks about 870 degree days a year, and the running total — which growers use to time plantings and predict maturity — climbs fastest around July.

02004006008001,000JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Growing degree days (°C·days)
Jan0
Feb0
Mar0
Apr4
May84
Jun175
Jul245
Aug239
Sep113
Oct10
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.

Zwickau receives about 3.0 kWh/m² a day of solar energy on average — moderate — with a clear seasonal swing between 0.6 and 5.3 kWh/m².

The brighter stretch of the year lasts 5.9 months, from around Mar 22 to Sep 17. The brightest month is June, averaging about 5.3 kWh/m² (bright).

The dimmest month is December, down near 0.7 kWh/m² — roughly 87% less than the June peak.

0123456JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecdimmerbrighterdimmerdimmoderatebrightJun 275.3 kWhDec 210.6 kWh
Solar energy (kWh/m²)Level
Jan0.9Dim
Feb1.6Dim
Mar2.8Moderate
Apr4.4Bright
May5.1Bright
Jun5.3Bright
Jul5.2Bright
Aug4.5Bright
Sep3.1Moderate
Oct1.9Dim
Nov1.0Dim
Dec0.7Dim

Where is Zwickau?

Zwickau sits at 50.7°N, 12.5°E, 267 m above sea level, in Germany. The nearest listed city is Werdau, 8.0 km away.

Topography around Zwickau

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

Within 3 km, the terrain around Zwickau has only modest variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 121 m around an average of 294 m above sea level; within 16 km, significant variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 413 m; within 80 km, large variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 1,187 m.

The land around Zwickau is covered by trees (35%) and artificial surfaces (34%) within 3 km, cropland (40%), trees (32%) and grassland (20%) within 16 km, and trees (41%) and cropland (37%) within 80 km.

3 km
121 m
16 km
413 m
80 km
1,187 m
treesgrasslandcroplandartificial surfaceswater
Nearby: Werdau 8.0 km · Glauchau 11 km · Crimmitschau 12 km · Meerane 13 km · Reichenbach/Vogtland 17 km · Hohenstein-Ernstthal 18 km · Schneeberg 18 km · Aue 22 km

Germany travel facts

Travel advisory
Level 2
Exercise Increased Caution
Power plugs
Type C / F
230 V · 50 Hz
Prices
≈ 80% of US
price level, 2025
GDP per capita
$60,496
2025
Happiness
6.9 / 10
World Happiness, 2025
Safe drinking water
100%
of population, 2024
Homicide rate
0.9
per 100k, 2023
Road deaths
3.8
per 100k/yr, 2019
Income group
High
World Bank
English
Very high
EF EPI 615
Religion
none 44%Roman Catholic 25%Protestant 23%other 5%

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 Zwickau (50.7272°, 12.4884°, elevation 267 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. 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).