Heraklion weather in January

In January, Heraklion sees average daytime highs of 14°C and overnight lows near 8°C, with 68 mm of precipitation across 12 wet days and about 9.9 hours of daylight. It is the 12th-warmest and 1st-wettest month of the year here.

Day-to-day highs hold fairly steady near 14°C through the month. The sky is clear or mostly clear about 26% of the time in January, and the air most often feels dry.

Daylight stretches from about 9 h 42 min at the start of January to 10 h 12 min by month's end. Set against the rest of the year, January is Heraklion's 11th-clearest and 4th-windiest month. For the whole year in context, see Heraklion's year-round climate.

Daytime high: 14°; 12th warmest
Overnight low: 8°; 2nd coldest
Precipitation: 68 mm; 12 wet days
Daylight: 9 h 54 min; 7:33 AM – 5:25 PM
Cloud cover: 57%; 11th clearest
Wind: 9 km/h; 4th windiest
Solar energy: 2.67 kWh/m²
Travel score: 3.9; out of 10

Heraklion is city in the island of Crete, Greece.

Density: 1,258/km²; people per km²

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

← December Heraklion year-round climate February →Best places to visit in January

Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec

Temperature in January

Average highAverage lowShaded bands: 10–90% of days

Day-to-day highs hold fairly steady near 14°C through the month.

A typical January day in Heraklion reaches about 14°C in the afternoon and slips back to 8°C overnight — a 6°C spread between the day's warmth and the night's chill. On most days the high lands between 9°C and 17°C. Set against its neighbours, January runs about 1°C cooler than December and on par with February.

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25	26	27	28	29	30	31
Avg high (°C)	14	14	14	14	14	14	14	14	14	14	14	14	14	14	14	14	14	14	14	14	14	14	14	14	14	14	14	14	14	14	14
Avg low (°C)	8	8	8	8	8	8	8	8	8	8	8	8	8	8	8	8	8	8	8	8	8	8	8	8	8	8	8	8	8	7	7

	Avg high (°C)	Avg low (°C)
1	14	8
2	14	8
3	14	8
4	14	8
5	14	8
6	14	8
7	14	8
8	14	8
9	14	8
10	14	8
11	14	8
12	14	8
13	14	8
14	14	8
15	14	8
16	14	8
17	14	8
18	14	8
19	14	8
20	14	8
21	14	8
22	14	8
23	14	8
24	14	8
25	14	8
26	14	8
27	14	8
28	14	8
29	14	8
30	14	7
31	14	7

Heraklion weather by month

How January compares with the rest of the year at a glance. January is the 12th-warmest and 1st-wettest month here — the current month is highlighted below.

Month	High / Low (°C)	Rainfall (mm)	Wet days	Daylight (hours)	Travel score
Jan	14° / 8°	68	12	9.9	3.9
Feb	14° / 8°	64	10.5	10.7	4.2
Mar	17° / 9°	54	8.3	11.7	5.6
Apr	20° / 11°	36	5.6	12.9	7.3
May	25° / 15°	31	4.3	13.8	8.3
Jun	28° / 19°	13	1.9	14.3	7.9
Jul	30° / 21°	5	0.7	14.1	7.2
Aug	29° / 22°	6	0.7	13.3	7.2
Sep	27° / 19°	19	2.9	12.2	8.1
Oct	24° / 16°	38	5.9	11.1	7.8
Nov	19° / 12°	45	7.1	10.1	6.6
Dec	15° / 9°	64	11.3	9.7	4.5

Cloud cover in January

ClearMostly clearPartly cloudyMostly cloudyOvercast

The sky is clear or mostly clear about 26% of the time in January.

Beyond those clear spells, partly cloudy skies cover about 22% of January, with mostly cloudy or overcast conditions the remaining 51%.

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25	26	27	28	29	30	31
Clearer (%)	46	46	46	47	46	46	47	47	48	47	48	48	48	48	48	48	48	48	49	49	49	50	51	51	52	52	52	52	52	52	52
Cloudier (%)	54	54	54	53	54	54	53	53	52	53	52	52	52	52	52	52	52	52	51	51	51	50	49	49	48	48	48	48	48	48	48

	Clearer (%)	Cloudier (%)
1	46	54
2	46	54
3	46	54
4	47	53
5	46	54
6	46	54
7	47	53
8	47	53
9	48	52
10	47	53
11	48	52
12	48	52
13	48	52
14	48	52
15	48	52
16	48	52
17	48	52
18	48	52
19	49	51
20	49	51
21	49	51
22	50	50
23	51	49
24	51	49
25	52	48
26	52	48
27	52	48
28	52	48
29	52	48
30	52	48
31	52	48

Chance of precipitation in January

Any precipitationSnow

Heraklion gets around 68 mm of rain and snow over 12 wet days in January, the wettest month. The line is the day-by-day chance of measurable precipitation.

Day to day, the chance of measurable precipitation averages around 38% and peaks near 42% on the wettest days, and about 0 day brings snow. The odds ease toward the end of the month.

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25	26	27	28	29	30	31
Rain chance (%)	42	42	42	41	41	41	41	40	40	39	39	38	38	37	37	37	37	37	37	37	37	37	37	36	36	36	36	35	35	35	35
Snow chance (%)	1	1	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1

	Rain chance (%)	Snow chance (%)
1	42	1
2	42	1
3	42	2
4	41	2
5	41	2
6	41	2
7	41	2
8	40	2
9	40	2
10	39	1
11	39	1
12	38	1
13	38	1
14	37	1
15	37	1
16	37	1
17	37	1
18	37	1
19	37	1
20	37	1
21	37	1
22	37	1
23	37	1
24	36	1
25	36	1
26	36	1
27	36	1
28	35	1
29	35	1
30	35	1
31	35	1

Humidity in January

DryComfortableHumidMuggyOppressiveMiserable

Most of January feels dry — the stacked bands show each day's mix of comfort levels, read off the dew point.

By dew point, January lands in the dry band about 100% of days. It rarely turns muggy — the humid and sticky bands barely register.

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25	26	27	28	29	30	31
Dry (%)	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100

	Dry (%)
1	100
2	100
3	100
4	100
5	100
6	100
7	100
8	100
9	100
10	100
11	100
12	100
13	100
14	100
15	100
16	100
17	100
18	100
19	100
20	100
21	100
22	100
23	100
24	100
25	100
26	100
27	100
28	100
29	100
30	100
31	100

Wind in January

Winds average 9 km/h in January.

Across January, daily wind ranges from about 9 km/h on the calmest days to 10 km/h at its breeziest. It stays fairly steady from day to day.

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25	26	27	28	29	30	31
Wind speed (km/h)	9	9	9	9	9	9	9	9	9	9	9	9	9	9	9	9	9	9	9	9	9	9	9	9	9	10	10	10	10	10	10
Feels	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm

	Wind speed (km/h)	Feels
1	9	calm
2	9	calm
3	9	calm
4	9	calm
5	9	calm
6	9	calm
7	9	calm
8	9	calm
9	9	calm
10	9	calm
11	9	calm
12	9	calm
13	9	calm
14	9	calm
15	9	calm
16	9	calm
17	9	calm
18	9	calm
19	9	calm
20	9	calm
21	9	calm
22	9	calm
23	9	calm
24	9	calm
25	9	calm
26	10	calm
27	10	calm
28	10	calm
29	10	calm
30	10	calm
31	10	calm

Sunrise & sunset in January

DaylightNight

Daylight runs from about 9 h 42 min at the start of January to 10 h 12 min by month's end. The lit band spans sunrise to sunset each day.

Days grow by about 30 minutes over January. Sunrise moves from 7:33 AM to 7:26 AM, and sunset from 5:12 PM to 5:39 PM.

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25	26	27	28	29	30	31
Daylight (h)	9.7	9.7	9.7	9.7	9.7	9.7	9.7	9.7	9.7	9.8	9.8	9.8	9.8	9.8	9.8	9.9	9.9	9.9	9.9	9.9	10.0	10.0	10.0	10.0	10.1	10.1	10.1	10.1	10.2	10.2	10.2
Sunrise (AM)	7:33	7:33	7:33	7:33	7:34	7:34	7:34	7:34	7:34	7:34	7:34	7:34	7:33	7:33	7:33	7:33	7:33	7:32	7:32	7:32	7:31	7:31	7:31	7:30	7:30	7:29	7:29	7:28	7:28	7:27	7:26
Sunset (PM)	5:12	5:13	5:14	5:14	5:15	5:16	5:17	5:18	5:18	5:19	5:20	5:21	5:22	5:23	5:24	5:25	5:25	5:26	5:27	5:28	5:29	5:30	5:31	5:32	5:33	5:34	5:35	5:36	5:37	5:38	5:39

	Daylight (h)	Sunrise (AM)	Sunset (PM)
1	9.7	7:33	5:12
2	9.7	7:33	5:13
3	9.7	7:33	5:14
4	9.7	7:33	5:14
5	9.7	7:34	5:15
6	9.7	7:34	5:16
7	9.7	7:34	5:17
8	9.7	7:34	5:18
9	9.7	7:34	5:18
10	9.8	7:34	5:19
11	9.8	7:34	5:20
12	9.8	7:34	5:21
13	9.8	7:33	5:22
14	9.8	7:33	5:23
15	9.8	7:33	5:24
16	9.9	7:33	5:25
17	9.9	7:33	5:25
18	9.9	7:32	5:26
19	9.9	7:32	5:27
20	9.9	7:32	5:28
21	10.0	7:31	5:29
22	10.0	7:31	5:30
23	10.0	7:31	5:31
24	10.0	7:30	5:32
25	10.1	7:30	5:33
26	10.1	7:29	5:34
27	10.1	7:29	5:35
28	10.1	7:28	5:36
29	10.2	7:28	5:37
30	10.2	7:27	5:38
31	10.2	7:26	5:39

Solar energy in January

Daily solar energy (kWh/m²)

Average shortwave solar energy reaching the ground each day in January, about 2.67 kWh/m².

For context, solar energy here swings from a low near 2.28 kWh/m² to a high of 7.87 kWh/m² in June across the year — January's 2.67 kWh/m² sits near the bottom.

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25	26	27	28	29	30	31
Solar energy (kWh/m²)	2.4	2.4	2.4	2.4	2.4	2.5	2.5	2.5	2.5	2.5	2.5	2.6	2.6	2.6	2.6	2.7	2.7	2.7	2.7	2.8	2.8	2.8	2.8	2.9	2.9	2.9	2.9	3.0	3.0	3.0	3.0
Level	Moderate	Moderate	Moderate	Moderate	Moderate	Moderate	Moderate	Moderate	Moderate	Moderate	Moderate	Moderate	Moderate	Moderate	Moderate	Moderate	Moderate	Moderate	Moderate	Moderate	Moderate	Moderate	Moderate	Moderate	Moderate	Moderate	Moderate	Moderate	Moderate	Moderate	Moderate

	Solar energy (kWh/m²)	Level
1	2.4	Moderate
2	2.4	Moderate
3	2.4	Moderate
4	2.4	Moderate
5	2.4	Moderate
6	2.5	Moderate
7	2.5	Moderate
8	2.5	Moderate
9	2.5	Moderate
10	2.5	Moderate
11	2.5	Moderate
12	2.6	Moderate
13	2.6	Moderate
14	2.6	Moderate
15	2.6	Moderate
16	2.7	Moderate
17	2.7	Moderate
18	2.7	Moderate
19	2.7	Moderate
20	2.8	Moderate
21	2.8	Moderate
22	2.8	Moderate
23	2.8	Moderate
24	2.9	Moderate
25	2.9	Moderate
26	2.9	Moderate
27	2.9	Moderate
28	3.0	Moderate
29	3.0	Moderate
30	3.0	Moderate
31	3.0	Moderate

Planning a trip in January

Hazard calendar for Heraklion

In seasonPeak

None of Heraklion's seasonal hazards are active in January. The full-year calendar below shows when the rainy season, cyclone risk and dust haze do peak.

Heraklion sees seasonal dust haze (May), heaviest in May.

Dust

Jan

Feb

Mar

Apr

May

Jun

Jul

Aug

Sep

Oct

Nov

Dec

Is January a good time to visit Heraklion?

Our two travel scores rate January for general sightseeing and for beach or pool weather — 0 (poor) to 10 (ideal).

3.9

Sightseeing

12th-best month of the year

0.0

Beach & pool

12th-best month of the year

January is a weaker month for outdoor sightseeing in Heraklion.

What to pack for Heraklion in January

From January's temperature range, rain chance, sun and wind — what's worth putting in the bag.

In January, Heraklion sees daytime highs around 14°C and nights near 8°C. Worth packing: a warm layer and rain gear. About 12 days see rain.

a warm layerrain gear

Sea temperature near Heraklion in January

The nearest coast averages about 16°C in January — the other half of the beach question. The full-year curve and swim-comfort zones are below.

The sea offshore is warmest in August at about 25°C and coldest in February near 16°C.

It's comfortable for a long swim from May 25 to Nov 19 — about 5.9 months when the water holds above 20°C.

	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
Sea temperature (°C)	16	16	16	17	19	23	25	25	25	23	20	18
Comfort	Cool	Cool	Cool	Cool	Cool	Refreshing	Warm	Warm	Warm	Refreshing	Refreshing	Cool

	Sea temperature (°C)	Comfort
Jan	16	Cool
Feb	16	Cool
Mar	16	Cool
Apr	17	Cool
May	19	Cool
Jun	23	Refreshing
Jul	25	Warm
Aug	25	Warm
Sep	25	Warm
Oct	23	Refreshing
Nov	20	Refreshing
Dec	18	Cool

UV index in Heraklion in January

LowModerateHighVery highExtreme

Clear-sky midday UV in January peaks around 3. The full-year curve, shaded by WHO exposure level, is below.

Under clear skies, the midday UV index in Heraklion peaks around July 13 at about 10 (very high) — sunscreen, a hat and midday shade are essential. It bottoms out near January 10 at about 3 (moderate).

The index reaches 3 or more — the level where the WHO recommends sun protection — in 10 months of the year.

	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
UV index (midday)	3	3	6	8	7	10	10	10	8	6	4	3
Level	Moderate	Moderate	High	Very high	Very high	Very high	Very high	Very high	Very high	High	Moderate	Moderate

	UV index (midday)	Level
Jan	3	Moderate
Feb	3	Moderate
Mar	6	High
Apr	8	Very high
May	7	Very high
Jun	10	Very high
Jul	10	Very high
Aug	10	Very high
Sep	8	Very high
Oct	6	High
Nov	4	Moderate
Dec	3	Moderate

Location & terrain

Where is Heraklion?

Heraklion sits at 35.3°N, 25.1°E, 60 m above sea level, in Greece. The nearest listed city is Rethymno, 60 km away.

Topography around Heraklion

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

Within 3 km, the terrain around Heraklion has only modest variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 188 m around an average of 49 m above sea level; within 16 km, large variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 822 m; within 80 km, extreme variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 2,433 m.

The land around Heraklion is covered by artificial surfaces (53%) within 3 km, water (39%), trees (27%) and grassland (24%) within 16 km, and water (69%) within 80 km.

3 km

188 m

artificial surfaces 53%

16 km

822 m

water 39%

80 km

2,433 m

water 69%

treesshrubsgrasslandcroplandartificial surfacesbare terrainwater

← December Heraklion year-round climate February →Best places to visit in January

January weather nearby: Rethymno 60 km · Chania 103 km · Fira 124 km · Oia 128 km · Paros 195 km · Naxos 199 km · Mykonos 236 km · Kos 260 km

Greece travel facts

Travel advisory: Level 1; Exercise Normal Precautions
Power plugs: Type C / F; 230 V · 50 Hz
Prices: ≈ 60% of US; price level, 2025
GDP per capita: $26,948; 2025
Happiness: 5.7 / 10; World Happiness, 2025
Safe drinking water: 97%; of population, 2024
Homicide rate: 0.8; per 100k, 2023
Road deaths: 8.3; per 100k/yr, 2019
Income group: High; World Bank
English: High; EF EPI 592
Religion

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 Heraklion (35.3279°, 25.1434°, elevation 60 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).

	Avg high (°C)	Avg low (°C)
1	14	8
2	14	8
3	14	8
4	14	8
5	14	8
6	14	8
7	14	8
8	14	8
9	14	8
10	14	8
11	14	8
12	14	8
13	14	8
14	14	8
15	14	8
16	14	8
17	14	8
18	14	8
19	14	8
20	14	8
21	14	8
22	14	8
23	14	8
24	14	8
25	14	8
26	14	8
27	14	8
28	14	8
29	14	8
30	14	7
31	14	7

	Clearer (%)	Cloudier (%)
1	46	54
2	46	54
3	46	54
4	47	53
5	46	54
6	46	54
7	47	53
8	47	53
9	48	52
10	47	53
11	48	52
12	48	52
13	48	52
14	48	52
15	48	52
16	48	52
17	48	52
18	48	52
19	49	51
20	49	51
21	49	51
22	50	50
23	51	49
24	51	49
25	52	48
26	52	48
27	52	48
28	52	48
29	52	48
30	52	48
31	52	48

	Rain chance (%)	Snow chance (%)
1	42	1
2	42	1
3	42	2
4	41	2
5	41	2
6	41	2
7	41	2
8	40	2
9	40	2
10	39	1
11	39	1
12	38	1
13	38	1
14	37	1
15	37	1
16	37	1
17	37	1
18	37	1
19	37	1
20	37	1
21	37	1
22	37	1
23	37	1
24	36	1
25	36	1
26	36	1
27	36	1
28	35	1
29	35	1
30	35	1
31	35	1

	Dry (%)
1	100
2	100
3	100
4	100
5	100
6	100
7	100
8	100
9	100
10	100
11	100
12	100
13	100
14	100
15	100
16	100
17	100
18	100
19	100
20	100
21	100
22	100
23	100
24	100
25	100
26	100
27	100
28	100
29	100
30	100
31	100

	Avg high (°C)	Avg low (°C)
1	14	8
2	14	8
3	14	8
4	14	8
5	14	8
6	14	8
7	14	8
8	14	8
9	14	8
10	14	8
11	14	8
12	14	8
13	14	8
14	14	8
15	14	8
16	14	8
17	14	8
18	14	8
19	14	8
20	14	8
21	14	8
22	14	8
23	14	8
24	14	8
25	14	8
26	14	8
27	14	8
28	14	8
29	14	8
30	14	7
31	14	7

	Clearer (%)	Cloudier (%)
1	46	54
2	46	54
3	46	54
4	47	53
5	46	54
6	46	54
7	47	53
8	47	53
9	48	52
10	47	53
11	48	52
12	48	52
13	48	52
14	48	52
15	48	52
16	48	52
17	48	52
18	48	52
19	49	51
20	49	51
21	49	51
22	50	50
23	51	49
24	51	49
25	52	48
26	52	48
27	52	48
28	52	48
29	52	48
30	52	48
31	52	48

	Rain chance (%)	Snow chance (%)
1	42	1
2	42	1
3	42	2
4	41	2
5	41	2
6	41	2
7	41	2
8	40	2
9	40	2
10	39	1
11	39	1
12	38	1
13	38	1
14	37	1
15	37	1
16	37	1
17	37	1
18	37	1
19	37	1
20	37	1
21	37	1
22	37	1
23	37	1
24	36	1
25	36	1
26	36	1
27	36	1
28	35	1
29	35	1
30	35	1
31	35	1

	Dry (%)
1	100
2	100
3	100
4	100
5	100
6	100
7	100
8	100
9	100
10	100
11	100
12	100
13	100
14	100
15	100
16	100
17	100
18	100
19	100
20	100
21	100
22	100
23	100
24	100
25	100
26	100
27	100
28	100
29	100
30	100
31	100

	Avg high (°C)	Avg low (°C)
1	14	8
2	14	8
3	14	8
4	14	8
5	14	8
6	14	8
7	14	8
8	14	8
9	14	8
10	14	8
11	14	8
12	14	8
13	14	8
14	14	8
15	14	8
16	14	8
17	14	8
18	14	8
19	14	8
20	14	8
21	14	8
22	14	8
23	14	8
24	14	8
25	14	8
26	14	8
27	14	8
28	14	8
29	14	8
30	14	7
31	14	7

	Clearer (%)	Cloudier (%)
1	46	54
2	46	54
3	46	54
4	47	53
5	46	54
6	46	54
7	47	53
8	47	53
9	48	52
10	47	53
11	48	52
12	48	52
13	48	52
14	48	52
15	48	52
16	48	52
17	48	52
18	48	52
19	49	51
20	49	51
21	49	51
22	50	50
23	51	49
24	51	49
25	52	48
26	52	48
27	52	48
28	52	48
29	52	48
30	52	48
31	52	48

	Rain chance (%)	Snow chance (%)
1	42	1
2	42	1
3	42	2
4	41	2
5	41	2
6	41	2
7	41	2
8	40	2
9	40	2
10	39	1
11	39	1
12	38	1
13	38	1
14	37	1
15	37	1
16	37	1
17	37	1
18	37	1
19	37	1
20	37	1
21	37	1
22	37	1
23	37	1
24	36	1
25	36	1
26	36	1
27	36	1
28	35	1
29	35	1
30	35	1
31	35	1

	Dry (%)
1	100
2	100
3	100
4	100
5	100
6	100
7	100
8	100
9	100
10	100
11	100
12	100
13	100
14	100
15	100
16	100
17	100
18	100
19	100
20	100
21	100
22	100
23	100
24	100
25	100
26	100
27	100
28	100
29	100
30	100
31	100