Lausanne weather in January

In January, Lausanne sees average daytime highs of 5°C and overnight lows near 0°C, with 108 mm of precipitation across 12.7 wet days and about 8.8 hours of daylight. It is the 12th-warmest and 6th-wettest month of the year here.

Day-to-day highs hold fairly steady near 5°C through the month. The sky is clear or mostly clear about 25% of the time in January, and the air most often feels dry.

Daylight stretches from about 8 h 24 min at the start of January to 9 h 18 min by month's end. Set against the rest of the year, January is Lausanne's 10th-clearest and 3rd-windiest month. For the whole year in context, see Lausanne's year-round climate.

Daytime high
12th warmest
Overnight low
1st coldest
Precipitation
108 mm
12.7 wet days
Daylight
8 h 48 min
8:20 AM – 5:06 PM
Cloud cover
66%
10th clearest
Wind
6 km/h
3rd windiest
Solar energy
1.34 kWh/m²
Travel score
0.0
out of 10
Air quality
Good
PM2.5 8.2 µg/m³ · 2020

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

Temperature in January

Average highAverage lowShaded bands: 10–90% of days

Day-to-day highs hold fairly steady near 5°C through the month.

A typical January day in Lausanne reaches about 5°C in the afternoon and slips back to 0°C overnight — a 5°C spread between the day's warmth and the night's chill. On most days the high lands between 1°C and 9°C. Set against its neighbours, January runs about 1°C cooler than December and about 1°C cooler than February.

-5°10°151015202531
Avg high (°C)Avg low (°C)
151
251
351
451
550
650
750
850
950
1050
1150
1250
1350
1450
1550
1650
1750
1850
1950
2050
2150
2250
2350
2450
2550
2650
2750
2850
2950
3050
3150

How January really feels in Lausanne

Once humidity and wind are folded in, January averages 0 days that feel above 32°C and 31 that feel at or below 0°C — the comfort signal a plain temperature reading hides.

Days feeling ≥ 32°C
0
heat index over the day's high
Days feeling ≤ C
31
wind chill below the day's low

The story in January is cold — wind chill drags the overnight "feels like" below the raw low.

Lausanne weather by month

How January compares with the rest of the year at a glance. January is the 12th-warmest and 6th-wettest month here — the current month is highlighted below.

MonthHigh / Low (°C)Rainfall (mm)Wet daysSnow daysDaylight (hours)Travel score
Jan / 10812.76.88.80.0
Feb / 9611.36.9100.3
Mar / 9412.34.411.61.8
Apr13° / 9012.32.213.33.2
May16° / 120140.414.84.7
Jun20° / 13°10612.8015.55.9
Jul22° / 15°11812.2015.26.6
Aug22° / 15°11612.40146.5
Sep18° / 12°10811.7012.45.7
Oct14° / 10112.40.310.73.9
Nov / 11613.13.29.21.6
Dec / 12513.56.68.40.2

Cloud cover in January

ClearMostly clearPartly cloudyMostly cloudyOvercast

The sky is clear or mostly clear about 25% of the time in January.

Beyond those clear spells, partly cloudy skies cover about 14% of January, with mostly cloudy or overcast conditions the remaining 61%. Skies tend to open up as the month goes on.

0%25%50%75%100%151015202531
Clearer (%)Cloudier (%)
13664
23565
33664
43664
53664
63763
73763
83961
93862
103961
113961
124159
134060
144060
154159
164060
174159
184159
194060
204060
214060
223961
233961
243862
253961
263862
273862
283961
293961
303961
314060

Chance of precipitation in January

Any precipitationSnow

Lausanne gets around 108 mm of rain and snow over 12.7 wet days in January. The line is the day-by-day chance of measurable precipitation.

Day to day, the chance of measurable precipitation averages around 41% and peaks near 44% on the wettest days, and about 7 days bring snow.

0%10%20%30%40%50%151015202531
Rain chance (%)Snow chance (%)
14420
24420
34420
44319
54319
64218
74218
84118
94118
104019
114019
124020
134021
144021
154022
164023
174024
184024
194025
204025
214025
224026
234026
244025
254025
264025
273925
283925
293925
303925
313925

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.

0%25%50%75%100%151015202531
Dry (%)
1100
2100
3100
4100
5100
6100
7100
8100
9100
10100
11100
12100
13100
14100
15100
16100
17100
18100
19100
20100
21100
22100
23100
24100
25100
26100
27100
28100
29100
30100
31100

Wind in January

Winds average 6 km/h in January.

Across January, daily wind ranges from about 6 km/h on the calmest days to 6 km/h at its breeziest. It stays fairly steady from day to day.

0246810151015202531
Wind speed (km/h)Feels
16calm
26calm
36calm
46calm
56calm
66calm
76calm
86calm
96calm
106calm
116calm
126calm
136calm
146calm
156calm
166calm
176calm
186calm
196calm
206calm
216calm
226calm
236calm
246calm
256calm
266calm
276calm
286calm
296calm
306calm
316calm

Sunrise & sunset in January

DaylightNight

Daylight runs from about 8 h 24 min at the start of January to 9 h 18 min by month's end. The lit band spans sunrise to sunset each day.

Days grow by about 54 minutes over January. Sunrise moves from 8:23 AM to 8:07 AM, and sunset from 4:50 PM to 5:26 PM.

12 AM4 AM8 AM12 PM4 PM8 PM12 AM151015202531
Daylight (h)Sunrise (AM)Sunset (PM)
18.48:234:50
28.58:244:51
38.58:244:51
48.58:244:52
58.58:234:53
68.58:234:54
78.58:234:55
88.68:234:56
98.68:234:57
108.68:224:59
118.68:225:00
128.78:225:01
138.78:215:02
148.78:215:03
158.78:205:04
168.88:205:06
178.88:195:07
188.88:195:08
198.98:185:09
208.98:175:11
218.98:175:12
229.08:165:13
239.08:155:15
249.08:145:16
259.18:135:18
269.18:125:19
279.18:125:20
289.28:115:22
299.28:105:23
309.38:095:25
319.38:075:26

Solar energy in January

Daily solar energy (kWh/m²)

Average shortwave solar energy reaching the ground each day in January, about 1.34 kWh/m².

For context, solar energy here swings from a low near 1.09 kWh/m² to a high of 5.77 kWh/m² in June across the year — January's 1.34 kWh/m² sits near the bottom.

00.511.522.5151015202531
Solar energy (kWh/m²)Level
11.1Dim
21.1Dim
31.1Dim
41.1Dim
51.1Dim
61.2Dim
71.2Dim
81.2Dim
91.2Dim
101.2Dim
111.2Dim
121.3Dim
131.3Dim
141.3Dim
151.3Dim
161.3Dim
171.4Dim
181.4Dim
191.4Dim
201.4Dim
211.4Dim
221.5Dim
231.5Dim
241.5Dim
251.6Dim
261.6Dim
271.6Dim
281.6Dim
291.7Dim
301.7Dim
311.7Dim
Planning a trip in January

Is January a good time to visit Lausanne?

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

0.0
Sightseeing
12th-best month of the year
0.0
Beach & pool
8th-best month of the year

January is a weaker month for outdoor sightseeing in Lausanne.

What to pack for Lausanne in January

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

In January, Lausanne sees daytime highs around 5°C and nights near 0°C. Pack a warm layer. Worth having: a heavy coat and rain gear. About 13 days see rain.

a warm layera heavy coatrain gear

UV index in Lausanne in January

LowModerateHighVery highExtreme

Clear-sky midday UV in January peaks around 1. The full-year curve, shaded by WHO exposure level, is below.

Under clear skies, the midday UV index in Lausanne peaks around July 15 at about 9 (very high) — sunscreen, a hat and midday shade are essential. 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 8 months of the year.

025710JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecLowModerateHighVery highHighModerateLowJul 15UV 9Dec 22UV 1
UV index (midday)Level
Jan1Low
Feb2Moderate
Mar4Moderate
Apr5Moderate
May7High
Jun8Very high
Jul9Very high
Aug7High
Sep5High
Oct3Moderate
Nov2Low
Dec1Low
Location & terrain

Where is Lausanne?

Lausanne sits at 46.5°N, 6.6°E, 453 m above sea level, in Switzerland. The nearest listed city is Pully, 2.0 km away.

Thonon-les-BainsMontreuxYverdon-les-BainsNyon

Topography around Lausanne

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

Within 3 km, the terrain around Lausanne has significant variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 335 m around an average of 466 m above sea level; within 16 km, large variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 950 m; within 80 km, extreme variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 4,527 m.

The land around Lausanne is covered by artificial surfaces (35%), water (33%) and trees (29%) within 3 km, water (35%) and trees (24%) within 16 km, and trees (48%) and grassland (34%) within 80 km.

3 km
335 m
16 km
950 m
80 km
4,527 m
treesgrasslandcroplandartificial surfacesbare terrainsnow and icewater
January weather nearby: Pully 2.0 km · Renens 4.0 km · Morges 10 km · Vevey 17 km · Thonon-les-Bains 20 km · Montreux 23 km · Yverdon-les-Bains 29 km · Nyon 34 km

Switzerland travel facts

Travel advisory
Level 1
Exercise Normal Precautions
Power plugs
Type C / J
230 V · 50 Hz
Prices
≈ 112% of US
price level, 2025
GDP per capita
$114,769
2025
Happiness
7.0 / 10
World Happiness, 2025
Safe drinking water
97%
of population, 2024
Homicide rate
0.6
per 100k, 2023
Road deaths
2.2
per 100k/yr, 2019
Income group
High
World Bank
English
High
EF EPI 564
Religion
Roman Catholic 34%none 29%Protestant 23%other Christian 6%

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 Lausanne (46.516°, 6.6328°, elevation 453 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. Topography is sampled from the Copernicus DEM GLO-90 elevation model (© ESA/Airbus) and ESA WorldCover 2021 land cover (CC BY 4.0).