Nuwara Eliya weather in May

In May, Nuwara Eliya sees average daytime highs of 25°C and overnight lows near 19°C, with 211 mm of rain across 28.6 wet days and about 12.3 hours of daylight. It is the 3rd-warmest and 6th-wettest month of the year here.

Day-to-day highs hold fairly steady near 25°C through the month. The sky is clear or mostly clear about 2% of the time in May, and the air most often feels muggy.

Daylight stretches from about 12 h 12 min at the start of May to 12 h 24 min by month's end. Set against the rest of the year, May is Nuwara Eliya's 7th-clearest and 5th-windiest month. For the whole year in context, see Nuwara Eliya's year-round climate.

Daytime high: 25°; 3rd warmest
Overnight low: 19°; 12th coldest
Rainfall: 211 mm; 28.6 wet days
Daylight: 12 h 18 min; 5:54 AM – 6:13 PM
Cloud cover: 83%; 7th clearest
Wind: 7 km/h; 5th windiest
Solar energy: 5.44 kWh/m²
Travel score: 3.8; out of 10

Nuwara Eliya is human settlement.

Density: 2,115/km²; people per km²

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

← April Nuwara Eliya year-round climate June →Best places to visit in May

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

Temperature in May

Average highAverage lowShaded bands: 10–90% of days

Day-to-day highs hold fairly steady near 25°C through the month.

A typical May day in Nuwara Eliya reaches about 25°C in the afternoon and slips back to 19°C overnight — a 6°C spread between the day's warmth and the night's chill. On most days the high lands between 24°C and 26°C. Set against its neighbours, May runs on par with April and about 1°C warmer than June.

	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)	26	26	26	25	25	25	25	25	25	25	25	25	25	25	25	25	25	25	25	25	25	25	25	25	25	25	25	25	25	25	25
Avg low (°C)	19	19	19	19	19	19	19	19	19	19	19	19	19	19	19	19	19	19	19	19	19	19	19	19	19	19	19	19	19	19	19

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

Nuwara Eliya weather by month

How May compares with the rest of the year at a glance. May is the 3rd-warmest and 6th-wettest month here — the current month is highlighted below.

Month	High / Low (°C)	Rainfall (mm)	Wet days	Daylight (hours)	Travel score
Jan	23° / 16°	120	14.7	11.6	5.9
Feb	24° / 16°	102	11.5	11.8	6.5
Mar	26° / 17°	109	11.9	12	6.4
Apr	26° / 18°	243	21.4	12.1	4.7
May	25° / 19°	211	28.6	12.3	3.8
Jun	24° / 19°	166	26.4	12.4	4.0
Jul	24° / 18°	177	26.9	12.4	4.1
Aug	24° / 18°	183	26.9	12.2	4.1
Sep	24° / 18°	228	25.7	12	4.2
Oct	24° / 18°	353	27.4	11.8	4.0
Nov	23° / 17°	330	24.6	11.7	4.2
Dec	23° / 17°	234	21	11.6	4.8

Cloud cover in May

ClearMostly clearPartly cloudyMostly cloudyOvercast

The sky is clear or mostly clear about 2% of the time in May.

Beyond those clear spells, partly cloudy skies cover about 10% of May, with mostly cloudy or overcast conditions the remaining 87%.

	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 (%)	18	18	17	17	16	15	15	15	13	13	13	13	13	13	12	12	12	12	12	12	11	11	11	11	11	9	9	9	8	8	8
Cloudier (%)	82	82	83	83	84	85	85	85	87	87	87	87	87	87	88	88	88	88	88	88	89	89	89	89	89	91	91	91	92	92	92

	Clearer (%)	Cloudier (%)
1	18	82
2	18	82
3	17	83
4	17	83
5	16	84
6	15	85
7	15	85
8	15	85
9	13	87
10	13	87
11	13	87
12	13	87
13	13	87
14	13	87
15	12	88
16	12	88
17	12	88
18	12	88
19	12	88
20	12	88
21	11	89
22	11	89
23	11	89
24	11	89
25	11	89
26	9	91
27	9	91
28	9	91
29	8	92
30	8	92
31	8	92

Chance of precipitation in May

Any precipitation

Nuwara Eliya gets around 211 mm of rain over 28.6 wet days in May. The line is the day-by-day chance of measurable precipitation.

Day to day, the chance of measurable rain averages around 91% and peaks near 94% on the wettest days. The odds climb 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 (%)	84	86	87	88	89	90	91	91	92	92	92	92	92	92	92	92	92	92	92	92	92	92	92	93	93	93	93	94	94	94	94

	Rain chance (%)
1	84
2	86
3	87
4	88
5	89
6	90
7	91
8	91
9	92
10	92
11	92
12	92
13	92
14	92
15	92
16	92
17	92
18	92
19	92
20	92
21	92
22	92
23	92
24	93
25	93
26	93
27	93
28	94
29	94
30	94
31	94

Humidity in May

DryComfortableHumidMuggyOppressiveMiserable

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

By dew point, May lands in the muggy band about 90% of days. Sticky, muggy-or-worse air turns up on roughly 90% of them.

	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
Humid (%)	16	14	13	12	12	11	10	10	10	9	9	9	9	9	8	8	8	8	8	8	8	8	8	8	9	9	10	11	12	13	14
Muggy (%)	84	86	87	88	88	89	90	90	90	91	91	91	91	91	92	92	92	92	92	92	92	92	92	92	91	91	90	89	88	87	86

	Humid (%)	Muggy (%)
1	16	84
2	14	86
3	13	87
4	12	88
5	12	88
6	11	89
7	10	90
8	10	90
9	10	90
10	9	91
11	9	91
12	9	91
13	9	91
14	9	91
15	8	92
16	8	92
17	8	92
18	8	92
19	8	92
20	8	92
21	8	92
22	8	92
23	8	92
24	8	92
25	9	91
26	9	91
27	10	90
28	11	89
29	12	88
30	13	87
31	14	86

Wind in May

Winds average 7 km/h in May.

Across May, daily wind ranges from about 5 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)	5	5	5	5	5	6	6	6	6	6	7	7	7	7	7	8	8	8	8	8	8	9	9	9	9	9	9	9	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	5	calm
2	5	calm
3	5	calm
4	5	calm
5	5	calm
6	6	calm
7	6	calm
8	6	calm
9	6	calm
10	6	calm
11	7	calm
12	7	calm
13	7	calm
14	7	calm
15	7	calm
16	8	calm
17	8	calm
18	8	calm
19	8	calm
20	8	calm
21	8	calm
22	9	calm
23	9	calm
24	9	calm
25	9	calm
26	9	calm
27	9	calm
28	9	calm
29	10	calm
30	10	calm
31	10	calm

Sunrise & sunset in May

DaylightNight

Daylight runs from about 12 h 12 min at the start of May to 12 h 24 min by month's end. The lit band spans sunrise to sunset each day.

Days grow by about 12 minutes over May. Sunrise moves from 5:57 AM to 5:53 AM, and sunset from 6:11 PM to 6:15 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)	12.2	12.2	12.3	12.3	12.3	12.3	12.3	12.3	12.3	12.3	12.3	12.3	12.3	12.3	12.3	12.3	12.3	12.3	12.3	12.3	12.3	12.3	12.3	12.3	12.4	12.4	12.4	12.4	12.4	12.4	12.4
Sunrise (AM)	5:57	5:57	5:56	5:56	5:56	5:55	5:55	5:55	5:55	5:55	5:54	5:54	5:54	5:54	5:54	5:54	5:53	5:53	5:53	5:53	5:53	5:53	5:53	5:53	5:53	5:53	5:53	5:53	5:53	5:53	5:53
Sunset (PM)	6:11	6:11	6:11	6:11	6:11	6:12	6:12	6:12	6:12	6:12	6:12	6:12	6:12	6:12	6:12	6:13	6:13	6:13	6:13	6:13	6:13	6:14	6:14	6:14	6:14	6:14	6:15	6:15	6:15	6:15	6:15

	Daylight (h)	Sunrise (AM)	Sunset (PM)
1	12.2	5:57	6:11
2	12.2	5:57	6:11
3	12.3	5:56	6:11
4	12.3	5:56	6:11
5	12.3	5:56	6:11
6	12.3	5:55	6:12
7	12.3	5:55	6:12
8	12.3	5:55	6:12
9	12.3	5:55	6:12
10	12.3	5:55	6:12
11	12.3	5:54	6:12
12	12.3	5:54	6:12
13	12.3	5:54	6:12
14	12.3	5:54	6:12
15	12.3	5:54	6:12
16	12.3	5:54	6:13
17	12.3	5:53	6:13
18	12.3	5:53	6:13
19	12.3	5:53	6:13
20	12.3	5:53	6:13
21	12.3	5:53	6:13
22	12.3	5:53	6:14
23	12.3	5:53	6:14
24	12.3	5:53	6:14
25	12.4	5:53	6:14
26	12.4	5:53	6:14
27	12.4	5:53	6:15
28	12.4	5:53	6:15
29	12.4	5:53	6:15
30	12.4	5:53	6:15
31	12.4	5:53	6:15

Solar energy in May

Daily solar energy (kWh/m²)

Average shortwave solar energy reaching the ground each day in May, about 5.44 kWh/m².

For context, solar energy here swings from a low near 4.05 kWh/m² to a high of 6.21 kWh/m² in March across the year — May's 5.44 kWh/m² falls in the middle.

	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)	5.6	5.6	5.5	5.5	5.5	5.5	5.5	5.5	5.5	5.5	5.5	5.5	5.5	5.5	5.5	5.5	5.5	5.5	5.5	5.5	5.4	5.4	5.4	5.4	5.4	5.4	5.4	5.3	5.3	5.3	5.3
Level	Bright	Bright	Bright	Bright	Bright	Bright	Bright	Bright	Bright	Bright	Bright	Bright	Bright	Bright	Bright	Bright	Bright	Bright	Bright	Bright	Bright	Bright	Bright	Bright	Bright	Bright	Bright	Bright	Bright	Bright	Bright

	Solar energy (kWh/m²)	Level
1	5.6	Bright
2	5.6	Bright
3	5.5	Bright
4	5.5	Bright
5	5.5	Bright
6	5.5	Bright
7	5.5	Bright
8	5.5	Bright
9	5.5	Bright
10	5.5	Bright
11	5.5	Bright
12	5.5	Bright
13	5.5	Bright
14	5.5	Bright
15	5.5	Bright
16	5.5	Bright
17	5.5	Bright
18	5.5	Bright
19	5.5	Bright
20	5.5	Bright
21	5.4	Bright
22	5.4	Bright
23	5.4	Bright
24	5.4	Bright
25	5.4	Bright
26	5.4	Bright
27	5.4	Bright
28	5.3	Bright
29	5.3	Bright
30	5.3	Bright
31	5.3	Bright

Planning a trip in May

Is May a good time to visit Nuwara Eliya?

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

3.8

Sightseeing

12th-best month of the year

3.5

Beach & pool

7th-best month of the year

May is a weaker month for outdoor sightseeing in Nuwara Eliya.

What to pack for Nuwara Eliya in May

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

In May, Nuwara Eliya sees daytime highs around 25°C and nights near 19°C. Pack rain gear. Worth having: light clothes and sun protection. About 29 days see rain.

rain gearlight clothessun protection

UV index in Nuwara Eliya in May

LowModerateHighVery highExtreme

Clear-sky midday UV in May peaks around 14 (very high — sun protection essential). The full-year curve, shaded by WHO exposure level, is below.

Under clear skies, the midday UV index in Nuwara Eliya peaks around April 15 at about 15 (extreme) — sunscreen, a hat and midday shade are essential. It bottoms out near December 17 at about 11 (extreme).

The index reaches 3 or more — the level where the WHO recommends sun protection — every month of the year.

	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
UV index (midday)	11	14	14	15	14	12	12	13	14	13	11	11
Level	Extreme	Extreme	Extreme	Extreme	Extreme	Extreme	Extreme	Extreme	Extreme	Extreme	Extreme	Extreme

	UV index (midday)	Level
Jan	11	Extreme
Feb	14	Extreme
Mar	14	Extreme
Apr	15	Extreme
May	14	Extreme
Jun	12	Extreme
Jul	12	Extreme
Aug	13	Extreme
Sep	14	Extreme
Oct	13	Extreme
Nov	11	Extreme
Dec	11	Extreme

Air quality in Nuwara Eliya in May

GoodModeratePoorUnhealthyVery unhealthy

Average fine-particle pollution (PM2.5) through the year — so you can see where May falls, not just the annual average.

Air quality in Nuwara Eliya is worst in November — around 48 µg/m³ PM2.5 (poor), about 1.8× the cleanest month (July, 27 µg/m³).

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

	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
PM2.5 (µg/m³)	42	36	41	44	36	27	27	28	29	41	48	44
Level	Poor	Poor	Poor	Poor	Poor	Moderate	Moderate	Moderate	Moderate	Poor	Poor	Poor

	PM2.5 (µg/m³)	Level
Jan	42	Poor
Feb	36	Poor
Mar	41	Poor
Apr	44	Poor
May	36	Poor
Jun	27	Moderate
Jul	27	Moderate
Aug	28	Moderate
Sep	29	Moderate
Oct	41	Poor
Nov	48	Poor
Dec	44	Poor

Location & terrain

Where is Nuwara Eliya?

Nuwara Eliya sits at 7.0°N, 80.8°E, 1,868 m above sea level, in Sri Lanka. The nearest listed city is Hatton, 22 km away.

Topography around Nuwara Eliya

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

Within 3 km, the terrain around Nuwara Eliya has large variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 740 m around an average of 1,985 m above sea level; within 16 km, very significant variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 1,984 m; within 80 km, extreme variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 2,495 m.

The land around Nuwara Eliya is covered by trees (60%) and grassland (20%) within 3 km, trees (77%) within 16 km, and trees (89%) within 80 km.

3 km

740 m

trees 60%

16 km

1,984 m

trees 77%

80 km

2,495 m

trees 89%

treesgrasslandcroplandartificial surfaceswater

← April Nuwara Eliya year-round climate June →Best places to visit in May

May weather nearby: Hatton 22 km · Badulla 30 km · Ella 31 km · Gampola 32 km · Kandy 39 km · Ratnapura 53 km · Kegalle 58 km · Matale 58 km

Sri Lanka travel facts

Travel advisory: Level 2; Exercise Increased Caution
Power plugs: Type D / G / M; 230 V · 50 Hz
Prices: ≈ 27% of US; price level, 2025
GDP per capita: $5,002; 2025
Happiness: 4.0 / 10; World Happiness, 2025
Safe drinking water: 47%; of population, 2024
Homicide rate: 3.3; per 100k, 2019
Road deaths: 19.7; per 100k/yr, 2019
Income group: Upper middle; World Bank
English: Low; EF EPI 486
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 Nuwara Eliya (6.9708°, 80.7829°, elevation 1,868 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).

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

	Clearer (%)	Cloudier (%)
1	18	82
2	18	82
3	17	83
4	17	83
5	16	84
6	15	85
7	15	85
8	15	85
9	13	87
10	13	87
11	13	87
12	13	87
13	13	87
14	13	87
15	12	88
16	12	88
17	12	88
18	12	88
19	12	88
20	12	88
21	11	89
22	11	89
23	11	89
24	11	89
25	11	89
26	9	91
27	9	91
28	9	91
29	8	92
30	8	92
31	8	92

	Rain chance (%)
1	84
2	86
3	87
4	88
5	89
6	90
7	91
8	91
9	92
10	92
11	92
12	92
13	92
14	92
15	92
16	92
17	92
18	92
19	92
20	92
21	92
22	92
23	92
24	93
25	93
26	93
27	93
28	94
29	94
30	94
31	94

	Humid (%)	Muggy (%)
1	16	84
2	14	86
3	13	87
4	12	88
5	12	88
6	11	89
7	10	90
8	10	90
9	10	90
10	9	91
11	9	91
12	9	91
13	9	91
14	9	91
15	8	92
16	8	92
17	8	92
18	8	92
19	8	92
20	8	92
21	8	92
22	8	92
23	8	92
24	8	92
25	9	91
26	9	91
27	10	90
28	11	89
29	12	88
30	13	87
31	14	86

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

	Clearer (%)	Cloudier (%)
1	18	82
2	18	82
3	17	83
4	17	83
5	16	84
6	15	85
7	15	85
8	15	85
9	13	87
10	13	87
11	13	87
12	13	87
13	13	87
14	13	87
15	12	88
16	12	88
17	12	88
18	12	88
19	12	88
20	12	88
21	11	89
22	11	89
23	11	89
24	11	89
25	11	89
26	9	91
27	9	91
28	9	91
29	8	92
30	8	92
31	8	92

	Rain chance (%)
1	84
2	86
3	87
4	88
5	89
6	90
7	91
8	91
9	92
10	92
11	92
12	92
13	92
14	92
15	92
16	92
17	92
18	92
19	92
20	92
21	92
22	92
23	92
24	93
25	93
26	93
27	93
28	94
29	94
30	94
31	94

	Humid (%)	Muggy (%)
1	16	84
2	14	86
3	13	87
4	12	88
5	12	88
6	11	89
7	10	90
8	10	90
9	10	90
10	9	91
11	9	91
12	9	91
13	9	91
14	9	91
15	8	92
16	8	92
17	8	92
18	8	92
19	8	92
20	8	92
21	8	92
22	8	92
23	8	92
24	8	92
25	9	91
26	9	91
27	10	90
28	11	89
29	12	88
30	13	87
31	14	86

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

	Clearer (%)	Cloudier (%)
1	18	82
2	18	82
3	17	83
4	17	83
5	16	84
6	15	85
7	15	85
8	15	85
9	13	87
10	13	87
11	13	87
12	13	87
13	13	87
14	13	87
15	12	88
16	12	88
17	12	88
18	12	88
19	12	88
20	12	88
21	11	89
22	11	89
23	11	89
24	11	89
25	11	89
26	9	91
27	9	91
28	9	91
29	8	92
30	8	92
31	8	92

	Rain chance (%)
1	84
2	86
3	87
4	88
5	89
6	90
7	91
8	91
9	92
10	92
11	92
12	92
13	92
14	92
15	92
16	92
17	92
18	92
19	92
20	92
21	92
22	92
23	92
24	93
25	93
26	93
27	93
28	94
29	94
30	94
31	94

	Humid (%)	Muggy (%)
1	16	84
2	14	86
3	13	87
4	12	88
5	12	88
6	11	89
7	10	90
8	10	90
9	10	90
10	9	91
11	9	91
12	9	91
13	9	91
14	9	91
15	8	92
16	8	92
17	8	92
18	8	92
19	8	92
20	8	92
21	8	92
22	8	92
23	8	92
24	8	92
25	9	91
26	9	91
27	10	90
28	11	89
29	12	88
30	13	87
31	14	86