Climate and average weather in Harlingen

In Harlingen, the summers are mild, showery, and partly cloudy and the winters are cold, windy, snowy, and mostly cloudy.

Best: mid June to mid September

Over the course of the year, the temperature in Harlingen typically varies from 3°C to 19°C, and is rarely below -2°C or above 24°C. August is the hottest month of the year, while February is the coldest.

Based on the travel score, the best time of year to visit Harlingen for warm-weather activities is from mid June to mid September.

Hottest
Aug
19°
Coldest
Feb
Wettest
Aug
101 mm
Driest
Apr
40 mm
Rain / yr
888 mm
153 wet days
Daylight
7.3–16.7 h
shortest–longest
Elevation
3 m
53.2°N
Clearest
May
58% cloud

Harlingen is town in Friesland, the Netherlands.

Density
644/km²
people per km²

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

Harlingen 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 mid September.

Temperature through the year

Average highAverage lowShaded bands: 10–90% of days

Daily average highs and lows in Harlingen, 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 15 to September 24, with daily high temperatures above 16°C. The hottest month of the year in Harlingen is August, with an average high of 19°C and low of 16°C.

The cool season lasts 3.9 months, from November 29 to March 27, with daily high temperatures below 8°C. The coldest month of the year in Harlingen is February, with an average low of 3°C and high of 5°C.

Days typically run about 3°C warmer than nights year-round.

-5°10°15°20°25°JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Avg high (°C)Avg low (°C)
Jan63
Feb53
Mar74
Apr107
May1310
Jun1613
Jul1916
Aug1916
Sep1714
Oct1311
Nov107
Dec74

How hot and cold Harlingen 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 -3°C (around January 27), with roughly 102 freezing days a year (feels-like at or below 0°C), worst in January.

-5°10°15°20°JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Feels-like high (°C)Air high (°C)Feels-like low (°C)Air low (°C)
Jan66-23
Feb55-23
Mar7704
Apr101037
May1313910
Jun16161313
Jul19191616
Aug19191616
Sep17171414
Oct13131011
Nov91037
Dec77-14

Average hourly temperature in Harlingen

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 19°C, and coldest before dawn in February, near C.

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

Harlingen 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 / 731417.90.2
Feb / 5411.31.49.40.1
Mar / 5111.20.711.50.9
Apr10° / 408.9013.62.4
May13° / 10°5710.4015.63.9
Jun16° / 13°6711.5016.64.9
Jul19° / 16°8412.5016.25.8
Aug19° / 16°10114014.55.6
Sep17° / 14°9213.4012.44.9
Oct13° / 11°9614.9010.33.3
Nov10° / 8715.80.18.41.7
Dec / 8615.10.97.40.7

Chance of rain

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

Harlingen gets about 888 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 5.7 months, from around Aug 8 to Jan 27, peaking in November at about 54% chance on a given day. The drier stretch runs the rest of the year, bottoming out around Apr 16.

August is the wettest month by volume, with 101 mm over about 14 wet days; April is the driest, with 40 mm. Some of the cold-season precipitation falls as snow.

0%10%20%30%40%50%60%70%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecwetterdrierwettermostly drysome rainoften wetvery wetNov 6 · 54%Apr 16 · 28%
Rain on a day (%)Rain days
Jan4514
Feb4011
Mar3611
Apr299
May3310
Jun3912
Jul4013
Aug4514
Sep4613
Oct4915
Nov5216
Dec4915

Monthly rainfall

Over a full year, Harlingen collects about 888 mm of rain across 153 wet days — roughly 74 mm in an average month.

It doesn’t fall evenly. August is the wettest month with 101 mm, while April is the driest at just 40 mm. The three wettest months alone bring about 33% of the year’s total, and some of the cold-season precipitation falls as snow.

0255075100125JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec7354514057678410192968786
Rainfall (mm)Rain daysSnow days
Jan73141
Feb54111
Mar51111
Apr4090
May57100
Jun67120
Jul84130
Aug101140
Sep92130
Oct96150
Nov87160
Dec86151

Snow in Harlingen

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.

Harlingen averages about 4 snowy days a year. Snow season runs roughly Nov 30 to Mar 19 — about 3.6 months.

February is snowiest, with roughly 1.5 day of snow and an estimated 6 cm of snowfall. Over the year that adds up to an estimated 14 cm of snow.

01234JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecsnow seasonFeb 7
Snow daysSnowfall (cm)
Jan12
Feb16
Mar12
Apr00
May00
Jun00
Jul00
Aug00
Sep00
Oct00
Nov00
Dec14

Clouds and sunshine

ClearMostly clearPartly cloudyMostly cloudyOvercast

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

In Harlingen, 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 6.0 months, ending around September 20. The clearest month is July, when the sky is clear, mostly clear, or partly cloudy 49% of the time on average.

The cloudier part of the year begins around September 21 and lasts for 5.9 months, ending around March 20. The cloudiest month is December, when it is overcast or mostly cloudy 73% 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 1 · 54%Nov 27 · 26%clearmostly clearpartly cloudymostly cloudyovercastcloudierclearercloudier
Clearer (%)Cloudier (%)
Jan2872
Feb3169
Mar3763
Apr4753
May4852
Jun4456
Jul4951
Aug4951
Sep4060
Oct3169
Nov2872
Dec2773

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 14, brings about 16 h 42 min of light; the shortest, around December 14, only 7 h 18 min — a swing of roughly 9 h 24 min.

12 AM4 AM8 AM12 PM4 PM8 PM12 AMJanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Daylight (h)Sunrise (AM)Sunset (PM)
Jan7.98:534:42
Feb9.48:095:37
Mar11.57:046:32
Apr13.65:487:29
May15.64:478:22
Jun16.64:188:59
Jul16.24:378:51
Aug14.55:257:59
Sep12.46:206:45
Oct10.37:155:32
Nov8.48:144:34
Dec7.48:554:14

Sunny days

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

Harlingen averages about 6 sunny days a month — counting the days the sky stays clear or mostly clear — with a clear seasonal swing between 3 and 10 days.

The sunnier stretch runs 5.6 months, from around Mar 15 to Aug 30. The sunniest month is July, with roughly 9 sunny days (mixed).

The greyest month is November, down near 4 sunny days — about 61% fewer than the July peak.

051015JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecgreyersunniergreyergloomymixedJul 2710 daysNov 253 days
Sunny daysSky
Jan4Gloomy
Feb5Gloomy
Mar7Gloomy
Apr9Mixed
May9Mixed
Jun8Gloomy
Jul9Mixed
Aug8Gloomy
Sep6Gloomy
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 Harlingen, how humid it feels changes dramatically over the year.

The more humid part of the year lasts 3.0 months, from around June 22 to September 19. The muggiest month is August, when the air feels humid, muggy or worse about 27% of the time.

The most comfortable stretch runs from around September 20 to June 21, and October is the most comfortable month — the air is dry or comfortable 100% of the time.

0%10%20%30%40%50%60%70%80%90%100%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecOct 14 · 100%Aug 5 · 68%humidcomfortabledrycomfortablehumidcomfortable
Dry (%)Comfortable (%)Humid (%)Muggy (%)
Jan100000
Feb100000
Mar100000
Apr100000
May95500
Jun692740
Jul3545191
Aug3043244
Sep623080
Oct891100
Nov100000
Dec100000

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 Harlingen is typically breezy, near 24 km/h, and varies moderately with the seasons.

The windier part of the year lasts 5.7 months, from around Oct 2 to Mar 22. The windiest month is January, averaging about 29 km/h (breezy).

The calmer part of the year runs from around Mar 23 to Oct 1, with July the calmest month at about 20 km/h.

05101520253035JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecwindiercalmerwindiercalmlight breezebreezywindyJan 7 · 29 km/hJul 29 · 20 km/h
Wind speed (km/h)Feels
Jan29breezy
Feb27breezy
Mar25breezy
Apr22breezy
May21breezy
Jun21breezy
Jul20breezy
Aug21breezy
Sep23breezy
Oct26breezy
Nov27breezy
Dec28breezy

Best time to visit Harlingen

TravelBeach/poolTemperatureCloudsPrecipitation

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

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

0246810JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecbest timetravel scoretemperaturecloudsprecipitationJul 30 · 6.0

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
Jan0.2poor
Feb0.1poor
Mar0.9poor
Apr2.4poor
May3.8fair
Jun4.9fair
Jul5.7good
Aug5.6good
Sep4.8fair
Oct3.3poor
Nov1.7poor
Dec0.7poor

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 Harlingen 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 2 · 2.9

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 Harlingen, 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 19°C), the essentials are rain gear, sun protection and a windbreaker. In the cold season around February (highs near 5°C), pack a warm layer, a heavy coat, rain gear and a windbreaker.

Light clothing
Warm layer
Winter coat
Rain gear
Sun protection
Windbreaker

In August, Harlingen sees daytime highs around 19°C and nights near 16°C. Pack rain gear. Worth having: sun protection and a windbreaker. About 14 days see rain.

Sea temperature near Harlingen

Average ocean temperature at the nearest coast, month by month, banded into swim-comfort zones — the other half of the beach question.

The sea offshore is warmest in August at about 19°C and coldest in February near 5°C.

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

5°10°15°20°JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecbracingcoolrefreshing
Sea temperature (°C)Comfort
Jan6Bracing
Feb5Bracing
Mar6Bracing
Apr9Bracing
May12Bracing
Jun15Cool
Jul18Cool
Aug19Cool
Sep17Cool
Oct14Bracing
Nov11Bracing
Dec8Bracing

UV index (midday) in Harlingen 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 Harlingen peaks around June 23 at about 6 (high) — a little sun protection helps at midday. It bottoms out near January 1 at about 1 (low).

The index reaches 3 or more — the level where the WHO recommends sun protection — in 6 months of the year.

025710JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecLowModerateHighModerateLowJun 23UV 6Jan 1UV 1
UV index (midday)Level
Jan1Low
Feb1Low
Mar3Moderate
Apr3Moderate
May5High
Jun6High
Jul6High
Aug6High
Sep4Moderate
Oct2Low
Nov1Low
Dec1Low

Average hourly UV index in Harlingen

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 7 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
Apr2.50
May6.50
Jun70
Jul70
Aug6.50
Sep3.50
Oct00
Nov00
Dec00
Almanac & agriculture

Growing season

Chance of a frost-free dayReliably frost-free (≥90%)

Harlingen is mild enough that a frost-free day stays more likely than not even in midwinter. Nights are reliably above freezing from about March 1 to December 20 (295 days); outside that window a hard frost is an occasional risk.

0%25%50%75%100%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecreliably frost-freeMar 190%Dec 2090%
Frost-free chance (%)Frost nights
Jan8331
Feb8328
Mar965
Apr1000
May1000
Jun1000
Jul1000
Aug1000
Sep1000
Oct1000
Nov990
Dec9121

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. Harlingen banks about 888 degree days a year, and the running total — which growers use to time plantings and predict maturity — climbs fastest around August.

02004006008001,000JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Growing degree days (°C·days)
Jan0
Feb0
Mar0
Apr0
May59
Jun143
Jul222
Aug238
Sep163
Oct63
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.

Harlingen receives about 3.1 kWh/m² a day of solar energy on average — moderate — with a clear seasonal swing between 0.5 and 5.8 kWh/m².

The brighter stretch of the year lasts 5.8 months, from around Mar 23 to Sep 14. The brightest month is June, averaging about 5.8 kWh/m² (bright).

The dimmest month is December, down near 0.5 kWh/m² — roughly 91% less than the June peak.

01234567JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecdimmerbrighterdimmerdimmoderatebrightintenseJun 275.8 kWhDec 220.5 kWh
Solar energy (kWh/m²)Level
Jan0.7Dim
Feb1.4Dim
Mar2.8Moderate
Apr4.5Bright
May5.5Bright
Jun5.8Bright
Jul5.6Bright
Aug4.7Bright
Sep3.1Moderate
Oct1.8Dim
Nov0.8Dim
Dec0.5Dim

Where is Harlingen?

Harlingen sits at 53.2°N, 5.4°E, 3 m above sea level, in The Netherlands. The nearest listed city is Sneek, 22 km away.

SneekLeeuwardenHeerenveenDrachtenMedemblikDen HelderEnkhuizenJulianadorp

Topography around Harlingen

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

Within 3 km, the terrain around Harlingen has only modest variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 11 m around an average of 0 m above sea level; within 16 km, only modest variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 17 m; within 80 km, only modest variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 65 m.

The land around Harlingen is covered by water (47%) and grassland (23%) within 3 km, water (55%) and grassland (30%) within 16 km, and water (54%) and grassland (26%) within 80 km.

3 km
11 m
16 km
17 m
80 km
65 m
treesgrasslandcroplandartificial surfacesbare terrainwaterwetland
Nearby: Sneek 22 km · Leeuwarden 26 km · Heerenveen 41 km · Drachten 46 km · Medemblik 50 km · Den Helder 50 km · Enkhuizen 53 km · Julianadorp 56 km

The Netherlands travel facts

Travel advisory
Level 2
Exercise Increased Caution
Power plugs
Type C / F
230 V · 50 Hz
Prices
≈ 84% of US
price level, 2025
GDP per capita
$73,684
2025
Happiness
7.2 / 10
World Happiness, 2025
Safe drinking water
100%
of population, 2024
Homicide rate
0.7
per 100k, 2023
Road deaths
4
per 100k/yr, 2019
Income group
High
World Bank
English
Very high
EF EPI 624
Religion
none 54%Roman Catholic 20%Protestant 15%other 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 Harlingen (53.1748°, 5.4224°, elevation 3 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).