Climate and average weather in Bergen

In Bergen, the summers are mild, wet, and mostly cloudy and the winters are cold, snowy, and mostly cloudy.

Best: mid June to early September

Over the course of the year, the temperature in Bergen typically varies from 0°C to 17°C, and is rarely below -7°C or above 21°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 Bergen for warm-weather activities is from mid June to early September.

Hottest
Aug
17°
Coldest
Jan
Wettest
Dec
271 mm
Driest
May
116 mm
Rain / yr
2393 mm
209 wet days
Daylight
5.4–18.6 h
shortest–longest
Elevation
20 m
60.4°N
Clearest
May
61% cloud

Bergen is Norwegian city in Vestland, Norway.

Air quality
Good
PM2.5 6.7 µg/m³ · 2019
Density
3,373/km²
people per km²
Founded
1070

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

Bergen 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 June to early September.

Temperature through the year

Average highAverage lowShaded bands: 10–90% of days

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

The hot season lasts 3.4 months, from June 7 to September 18, with daily high temperatures above 14°C. The hottest month of the year in Bergen is August, with an average high of 17°C and low of 12°C.

The cool season lasts 4.3 months, from November 18 to March 28, with daily high temperatures below 6°C. The coldest month of the year in Bergen is January, with an average low of 0°C and high of 4°C.

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

-10°10°20°JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Avg high (°C)Avg low (°C)
Jan40
Feb40
Mar51
Apr83
May117
Jun1410
Jul1612
Aug1712
Sep1410
Oct107
Nov63
Dec41

How hot and cold Bergen 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 -5°C (around February 1), with roughly 157 freezing days a year (feels-like at or below 0°C), worst in February.

-5°10°15°20°JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Feels-like high (°C)Air high (°C)Feels-like low (°C)Air low (°C)
Jan44-40
Feb34-50
Mar55-31
Apr8803
May111147
Jun1414810
Jul16161212
Aug16171212
Sep1414910
Oct101047
Nov66-13
Dec44-31

Average hourly temperature in Bergen

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 17°C, and coldest before dawn in January, near C.

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

Bergen 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 / 25020.314.46.30.0
Feb / 20817.212.78.60.0
Mar / 19218.311.311.30.1
Apr / 13315.34.414.21.2
May11° / 116140.916.82.6
Jun14° / 10°12114.1018.53.6
Jul16° / 12°14916.4017.84.3
Aug17° / 12°18817.3015.44.3
Sep14° / 10°24917.7012.63.2
Oct10° / 25919.31.29.71.8
Nov / 25718.957.10.5
Dec / 2712010.95.50.0

Chance of rain

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

Bergen gets about 2393 mm of precipitation a year. On a typical day the chance of rain is very wet, but that rises and falls sharply with the seasons.

The wetter season lasts 6.8 months, from around Aug 26 to Mar 20, peaking in January at about 68% chance on a given day. The drier stretch runs the rest of the year, bottoming out around May 31.

December is the wettest month by volume, with 271 mm over about 20 wet days; May is the driest, with 116 mm. Some of the cold-season precipitation falls as snow.

0%10%20%30%40%50%60%70%80%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecwetterdrierwettermostly drysome rainoften wetvery wetJan 13 · 68%May 31 · 45%
Rain on a day (%)Rain days
Jan6620
Feb6117
Mar5918
Apr5115
May4614
Jun4814
Jul5216
Aug5617
Sep5918
Oct6219
Nov6319
Dec6420

Monthly rainfall

Over a full year, Bergen collects about 2393 mm of rain across 209 wet days — roughly 199 mm in an average month.

It doesn’t fall evenly. December is the wettest month with 271 mm, while May is the driest at just 116 mm. The three wettest months alone bring about 33% of the year’s total, and some of the cold-season precipitation falls as snow.

050100150200250300JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec250208192133116121149188249259257271
Rainfall (mm)Rain daysSnow days
Jan2502014
Feb2081713
Mar1921811
Apr133154
May116141
Jun121140
Jul149160
Aug188170
Sep249180
Oct259191
Nov257195
Dec2712011

Snow in Bergen

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.

Bergen averages about 61 snowy days a year. Snow season runs roughly Oct 10 to May 21 — about 7.4 months.

January is snowiest, with roughly 14 days of snow and an estimated 68 cm of snowfall. Over the year that adds up to an estimated 274 cm of snow.

05101520JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecsnow seasonsnow seasonJan 28
Snow daysSnowfall (cm)
Jan1468
Feb1366
Mar1151
Apr414
May13
Jun00
Jul00
Aug00
Sep00
Oct13
Nov521
Dec1148

Clouds and sunshine

ClearMostly clearPartly cloudyMostly cloudyOvercast

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

In Bergen, 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 March 21 and lasts for 5.5 months, ending around September 3. The clearest month is May, when the sky is clear, mostly clear, or partly cloudy 44% of the time on average.

The cloudier part of the year begins around September 4 and lasts for 6.5 months, ending around March 20. The cloudiest month is January, when it is overcast or mostly cloudy 79% 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%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecMay 12 · 46%Dec 27 · 19%clearmostly clearpartly cloudymostly cloudyovercastcloudierclearercloudier
Clearer (%)Cloudier (%)
Jan2179
Feb2476
Mar2872
Apr3862
May4456
Jun3961
Jul3466
Aug3169
Sep2872
Oct2575
Nov2377
Dec2179

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 16, brings about 18 h 36 min of light; the shortest, around December 15, only 5 h 24 min — a swing of roughly 13 h 12 min.

12 AM4 AM8 AM12 PM4 PM8 PM12 AMJanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Daylight (h)Sunrise (AM)Sunset (PM)
Jan6.39:413:55
Feb8.68:355:12
Mar11.37:096:28
Apr14.25:327:46
May16.84:089:01
Jun18.53:229:56
Jul17.83:489:40
Aug15.45:008:26
Sep12.66:176:49
Oct9.77:325:15
Nov7.18:543:54
Dec5.59:523:18

Sunny days

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

Bergen averages about 5 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 3.8 months, from around Mar 19 to Jul 12. The sunniest month is May, with roughly 9 sunny days (mixed).

The greyest month is December, down near 4 sunny days — about 56% fewer than the May peak.

051015JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecgreyersunniergreyergloomymixedMay 119 daysDec 303 days
Sunny daysSky
Jan4Gloomy
Feb5Gloomy
Mar5Gloomy
Apr7Gloomy
May9Mixed
Jun6Gloomy
Jul5Gloomy
Aug5Gloomy
Sep5Gloomy
Oct5Gloomy
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 Bergen, the air stays dry or comfortable essentially all year. Even in August, the muggiest month, it feels humid or worse only about 3% of the time — humidity is not something you need to plan around here.

0%10%20%30%40%50%60%70%80%90%100%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDeccomfortabledry
Dry (%)Comfortable (%)Humid (%)
Jan10000
Feb10000
Mar10000
Apr10000
May10000
Jun9730
Jul78202
Aug75223
Sep9550
Oct10000
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 Bergen is typically light breeze, near 15 km/h, and varies moderately with the seasons.

The windier part of the year lasts 5.6 months, from around Oct 10 to Mar 28. The windiest month is January, averaging about 18 km/h (light breeze).

The calmer part of the year runs from around Mar 29 to Oct 9, with July the calmest month at about 12 km/h.

0510152025JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecwindiercalmerwindiercalmlight breezebreezyJan 12 · 19 km/hJul 26 · 12 km/h
Wind speed (km/h)Feels
Jan18light breeze
Feb17light breeze
Mar16light breeze
Apr14light breeze
May14light breeze
Jun13light breeze
Jul12light breeze
Aug13light breeze
Sep15light breeze
Oct15light breeze
Nov17light breeze
Dec18light breeze

Best time to visit Bergen

TravelBeach/poolTemperatureCloudsPrecipitation

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

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

0246810JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecbest timetravel scoretemperaturecloudsprecipitationJul 30 · 4.5

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
Jan0.0poor
Feb0.0poor
Mar0.1poor
Apr1.2poor
May2.6poor
Jun3.6fair
Jul4.3fair
Aug4.3fair
Sep3.2poor
Oct1.8poor
Nov0.5poor
Dec0.0poor

The beach/pool score favors clear, rainless days with daytime highs between 24°C and 34°C. Bergen rarely gets warm enough to lift this score — no time of year really suits hot-weather activities here.

024681012JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDectemperaturecloudsprecipitation

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 Bergen, 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 17°C), the essentials are a warm layer and rain gear. In the cold season around January (highs near 4°C), pack a warm layer, a heavy coat and rain gear.

Light clothing
Warm layer
Winter coat
Rain gear
Sun protection
Windbreaker

In August, Bergen sees daytime highs around 17°C and nights near 12°C. Pack rain gear. Worth having: a warm layer. About 17 days see rain.

Sea temperature near Bergen

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 25 km away) is warmest in August at about 16°C and coldest in March near 5°C.

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

5°10°15°JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecbracingcool
Sea temperature (°C)Comfort
Jan7Bracing
Feb6Bracing
Mar5Bracing
Apr6Bracing
May9Bracing
Jun12Bracing
Jul15Bracing
Aug16Cool
Sep15Bracing
Oct12Bracing
Nov10Bracing
Dec8Bracing

UV index (midday) in Bergen 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 Bergen peaks around June 17 at about 5 (moderate) — a little sun protection helps at midday. It bottoms out near December 19 at about 0 (low).

The index reaches 3 or more — the level where the WHO recommends sun protection — in 4 months of the year.

025710JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecLowModerateLowJun 17UV 5Dec 19UV 0
UV index (midday)Level
Jan0Low
Feb1Low
Mar1Low
Apr3Moderate
May4Moderate
Jun5Moderate
Jul4Moderate
Aug4Moderate
Sep2Moderate
Oct1Low
Nov0Low
Dec0Low

Average hourly UV index in Bergen

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 6.5 hours a day reach index 3 (protection recommended). 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
Apr00
May5.50
Jun6.50
Jul60
Aug50
Sep00
Oct00
Nov00
Dec00
Almanac & agriculture

Growing season

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

The growing season in Bergen typically lasts about 348 days, from around February 17 to January 30 — the span where a frost-free day is more likely than not. It is reliably frost-free from April 10 to November 6.

0%25%50%75%100%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecgrowing seasongrowing seasonFeb 1750%Apr 1090%Nov 690%Jan 3050%
Frost-free chance (%)Frost nights
Jan5431
Feb5028
Mar6531
Apr929
May1000
Jun1000
Jul1000
Aug1000
Sep1000
Oct980
Nov8325
Dec6231

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. Bergen banks about 379 degree days a year, and the running total — which growers use to time plantings and predict maturity — climbs fastest around August.

0100200300400JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Growing degree days (°C·days)
Jan0
Feb0
Mar0
Apr0
May2
Jun54
Jul127
Aug136
Sep60
Oct0
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.

Bergen receives about 2.5 kWh/m² a day of solar energy on average — moderate — with a clear seasonal swing between 0.1 and 5.5 kWh/m².

The brighter stretch of the year lasts 5.5 months, from around Mar 27 to Sep 10. The brightest month is June, averaging about 5.3 kWh/m² (bright).

The dimmest month is December, down near 0.2 kWh/m² — roughly 97% less than the June peak.

01234567JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecdimmerbrighterdimmerdimmoderatebrightintenseJun 45.5 kWhDec 220.1 kWh
Solar energy (kWh/m²)Level
Jan0.3Dim
Feb0.8Dim
Mar1.9Dim
Apr3.6Moderate
May5.2Bright
Jun5.4Bright
Jul4.8Bright
Aug3.8Moderate
Sep2.2Moderate
Oct1.1Dim
Nov0.4Dim
Dec0.1Dim

Where is Bergen?

Bergen sits at 60.4°N, 5.3°E, 20 m above sea level, in Norway. The nearest listed city is Nesttun, 8.0 km away.

StavangerSolaSandnesTime

What Bergen looks like

Topography around Bergen

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

Within 3 km, the terrain around Bergen has significant variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 558 m around an average of 142 m above sea level; within 16 km, large variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 978 m; within 80 km, very significant variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 1,650 m.

The land around Bergen is covered by trees (46%), water (25%) and artificial surfaces (22%) within 3 km, trees (50%) and water (26%) within 16 km, and water (40%), trees (29%) and grassland (23%) within 80 km.

3 km
558 m
16 km
978 m
80 km
1,650 m
treesgrasslandartificial surfacesbare terrainsnow and icewatermoss and lichen
Nearby: Nesttun 8.0 km · Ytrebygda 10 km · Haugesund 109 km · Flam 111 km · Stavanger 160 km · Sola 168 km · Sandnes 173 km · Time 186 km

Norway travel facts

Travel advisory
Level 1
Exercise Normal Precautions
Power plugs
Type C / F
230 V · 50 Hz
Prices
≈ 91% of US
price level, 2025
GDP per capita
$94,594
2025
Happiness
7.2 / 10
World Happiness, 2025
Safe drinking water
99%
of population, 2024
Homicide rate
0.7
per 100k, 2023
Road deaths
2.1
per 100k/yr, 2019
Income group
High
World Bank
English
Very high
EF EPI 613
Religion
Church of Norway 68%other Christian 4%Muslim 3%Roman Catholic 3%

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 Bergen (60.393°, 5.3242°, elevation 20 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).