Leeuwarden weather in March

In March, Leeuwarden sees average daytime highs of 8°C and overnight lows near 3°C, with 48 mm of precipitation across 10.8 wet days and about 11.5 hours of daylight. It is the 9th-warmest and 11th-wettest month of the year here.

Highs climb over the month, from about 7°C in the first days to 9°C by the end. The sky is clear or mostly clear about 21% of the time in March, and the air most often feels dry.

Daylight stretches from about 10 h 24 min at the start of March to 12 h 36 min by month's end. Set against the rest of the year, March is Leeuwarden's 7th-clearest and 5th-windiest month. For the whole year in context, see Leeuwarden's year-round climate.

Daytime high: 8°; 9th warmest
Overnight low: 3°; 4th coldest
Precipitation: 48 mm; 10.8 wet days
Daylight: 11 h 30 min; 7:02 AM – 6:31 PM
Cloud cover: 68%; 7th clearest
Wind: 21 km/h; 5th windiest
Solar energy: 2.74 kWh/m²
Travel score: 1.3; out of 10

Leeuwarden is capital city of Friesland, the Netherlands.

Density: 1,483/km²; people per km²
Founded: 1435

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

← February Leeuwarden year-round climate April →Best places to visit in March

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

Temperature in March

Average highAverage lowShaded bands: 10–90% of days

Highs climb over the month, from about 7°C in the first days to 9°C by the end.

A typical March day in Leeuwarden reaches about 8°C in the afternoon and slips back to 3°C overnight — a 5°C spread between the day's warmth and the night's chill. On most days the high lands between 4°C and 12°C. Set against its neighbours, March runs about 3°C warmer than February and about 4°C cooler than April.

	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)	7	7	7	7	7	7	7	7	7	8	8	8	8	8	8	8	8	8	8	8	8	9	9	9	9	9	9	9	9	10	10
Avg low (°C)	2	3	3	3	3	3	3	3	3	3	3	3	3	3	3	3	4	4	4	4	4	4	4	4	4	4	4	4	4	4	4

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

How March really feels in Leeuwarden

Once humidity and wind are folded in, March averages 0 days that feel above 32°C and 28 that feel at or below 0°C — the comfort signal a plain temperature reading hides.

Days feeling ≥ 32°C

heat index over the day's high

Days feeling ≤ 0°C

wind chill below the day's low

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

Leeuwarden weather by month

How March compares with the rest of the year at a glance. March is the 9th-warmest and 11th-wettest month here — the current month is highlighted below.

Month	High / Low (°C)	Rainfall (mm)	Wet days	Snow days	Daylight (hours)	Travel score
Jan	5° / 2°	65	12.9	1.1	7.9	0.1
Feb	6° / 2°	49	10.4	1.6	9.4	0.2
Mar	8° / 3°	48	10.8	0.8	11.5	1.3
Apr	12° / 6°	41	9.3	0	13.6	3.1
May	15° / 9°	57	10.8	0	15.6	4.6
Jun	18° / 12°	65	11.7	0	16.6	5.4
Jul	20° / 14°	78	13.2	0	16.2	5.9
Aug	20° / 15°	84	13.9	0	14.5	5.8
Sep	17° / 12°	75	12.8	0	12.4	5.1
Oct	14° / 9°	75	13.8	0	10.3	3.4
Nov	9° / 6°	66	13.9	0.1	8.4	1.6
Dec	6° / 3°	71	13.4	1.1	7.4	0.5

Cloud cover in March

ClearMostly clearPartly cloudyMostly cloudyOvercast

The sky is clear or mostly clear about 21% of the time in March.

Beyond those clear spells, partly cloudy skies cover about 14% of March, with mostly cloudy or overcast conditions the remaining 65%. Skies tend to open up as the month goes on.

	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 (%)	28	28	29	29	29	30	30	31	31	31	32	31	32	32	34	34	35	36	35	37	37	38	39	39	40	41	41	42	43	43	44
Cloudier (%)	72	72	71	71	71	70	70	69	69	69	68	69	68	68	66	66	65	64	65	63	63	62	61	61	60	59	59	58	57	57	56

	Clearer (%)	Cloudier (%)
1	28	72
2	28	72
3	29	71
4	29	71
5	29	71
6	30	70
7	30	70
8	31	69
9	31	69
10	31	69
11	32	68
12	31	69
13	32	68
14	32	68
15	34	66
16	34	66
17	35	65
18	36	64
19	35	65
20	37	63
21	37	63
22	38	62
23	39	61
24	39	61
25	40	60
26	41	59
27	41	59
28	42	58
29	43	57
30	43	57
31	44	56

Chance of precipitation in March

Any precipitationSnow

Leeuwarden gets around 48 mm of rain and snow over 10.8 wet days in March. The line is the day-by-day chance of measurable precipitation.

Day to day, the chance of measurable precipitation averages around 34% and peaks near 41% on the wettest days, and about 1 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 (%)	41	41	41	40	39	38	38	37	36	35	34	34	33	32	32	32	31	31	31	31	32	32	32	32	33	33	33	33	33	33	33
Snow chance (%)	5	5	5	4	4	4	4	3	3	3	3	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1

	Rain chance (%)	Snow chance (%)
1	41	5
2	41	5
3	41	5
4	40	4
5	39	4
6	38	4
7	38	4
8	37	3
9	36	3
10	35	3
11	34	3
12	34	2
13	33	2
14	32	2
15	32	2
16	32	2
17	31	2
18	31	2
19	31	2
20	31	2
21	32	2
22	32	2
23	32	2
24	32	1
25	33	1
26	33	1
27	33	1
28	33	1
29	33	1
30	33	1
31	33	1

Humidity in March

DryComfortableHumidMuggyOppressiveMiserable

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

By dew point, March 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 March

Winds average 21 km/h in March.

Across March, daily wind ranges from about 19 km/h on the calmest days to 22 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)	22	22	22	22	22	22	22	22	21	21	21	21	21	21	21	21	21	21	21	20	20	20	20	20	20	20	20	20	19	19	19
Feels	breezy	breezy	breezy	breezy	breezy	breezy	breezy	breezy	breezy	breezy	breezy	breezy	breezy	breezy	breezy	breezy	breezy	breezy	breezy	breezy	breezy	breezy	breezy	light breeze	light breeze	light breeze	light breeze	light breeze	light breeze	light breeze	light breeze

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

Sunrise & sunset in March

DaylightNight

Daylight runs from about 10 h 24 min at the start of March to 12 h 36 min by month's end. The lit band spans sunrise to sunset each day.

Days grow by about 132 minutes over March. Sunrise moves from 7:38 AM to 6:25 AM, and sunset from 6:02 PM to 6:58 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)	10.4	10.5	10.6	10.6	10.7	10.8	10.8	10.9	11.0	11.1	11.1	11.2	11.3	11.3	11.4	11.5	11.6	11.6	11.7	11.8	11.8	11.9	12.0	12.1	12.1	12.2	12.3	12.3	12.4	12.5	12.6
Sunrise (AM)	7:38	7:35	7:33	7:31	7:28	7:26	7:24	7:21	7:19	7:17	7:14	7:12	7:09	7:07	7:04	7:02	7:00	6:57	6:55	6:52	6:50	6:47	6:45	6:42	6:40	6:37	6:35	6:32	6:30	6:28	6:25
Sunset (PM)	6:02	6:04	6:06	6:08	6:10	6:12	6:14	6:16	6:18	6:20	6:21	6:23	6:25	6:27	6:29	6:31	6:33	6:35	6:36	6:38	6:40	6:42	6:44	6:46	6:47	6:49	6:51	6:53	6:55	6:57	6:58

	Daylight (h)	Sunrise (AM)	Sunset (PM)
1	10.4	7:38	6:02
2	10.5	7:35	6:04
3	10.6	7:33	6:06
4	10.6	7:31	6:08
5	10.7	7:28	6:10
6	10.8	7:26	6:12
7	10.8	7:24	6:14
8	10.9	7:21	6:16
9	11.0	7:19	6:18
10	11.1	7:17	6:20
11	11.1	7:14	6:21
12	11.2	7:12	6:23
13	11.3	7:09	6:25
14	11.3	7:07	6:27
15	11.4	7:04	6:29
16	11.5	7:02	6:31
17	11.6	7:00	6:33
18	11.6	6:57	6:35
19	11.7	6:55	6:36
20	11.8	6:52	6:38
21	11.8	6:50	6:40
22	11.9	6:47	6:42
23	12.0	6:45	6:44
24	12.1	6:42	6:46
25	12.1	6:40	6:47
26	12.2	6:37	6:49
27	12.3	6:35	6:51
28	12.3	6:32	6:53
29	12.4	6:30	6:55
30	12.5	6:28	6:57
31	12.6	6:25	6:58

Solar energy in March

Daily solar energy (kWh/m²)

Average shortwave solar energy reaching the ground each day in March, about 2.74 kWh/m².

For context, solar energy here swings from a low near 0.52 kWh/m² to a high of 5.75 kWh/m² in June across the year — March's 2.74 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)	2.0	2.0	2.1	2.1	2.1	2.2	2.2	2.3	2.3	2.4	2.4	2.5	2.5	2.6	2.6	2.7	2.8	2.8	2.9	3.0	3.0	3.1	3.1	3.2	3.3	3.3	3.4	3.5	3.5	3.6	3.6
Level	Dim	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	2.0	Dim
2	2.0	Moderate
3	2.1	Moderate
4	2.1	Moderate
5	2.1	Moderate
6	2.2	Moderate
7	2.2	Moderate
8	2.3	Moderate
9	2.3	Moderate
10	2.4	Moderate
11	2.4	Moderate
12	2.5	Moderate
13	2.5	Moderate
14	2.6	Moderate
15	2.6	Moderate
16	2.7	Moderate
17	2.8	Moderate
18	2.8	Moderate
19	2.9	Moderate
20	3.0	Moderate
21	3.0	Moderate
22	3.1	Moderate
23	3.1	Moderate
24	3.2	Moderate
25	3.3	Moderate
26	3.3	Moderate
27	3.4	Moderate
28	3.5	Moderate
29	3.5	Moderate
30	3.6	Moderate
31	3.6	Moderate

Planning a trip in March

Is March a good time to visit Leeuwarden?

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

1.3

Sightseeing

9th-best month of the year

0.0

Beach & pool

7th-best month of the year

March is a weaker month for outdoor sightseeing in Leeuwarden.

What to pack for Leeuwarden in March

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

In March, Leeuwarden sees daytime highs around 8°C and nights near 3°C. Pack a warm layer. Worth having: a heavy coat, rain gear and a windbreaker. About 11 days see rain.

a warm layera heavy coatrain geara windbreaker

Sea temperature near Leeuwarden in March

The nearest coast averages about 6°C in March — the other half of the beach question. The full-year curve and swim-comfort zones are below.

The sea at the nearest coast (about 23 km away) is warmest in August at about 18°C and coldest in February near 5°C.

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

	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
Sea temperature (°C)	6	5	6	8	11	15	17	18	17	14	11	8
Comfort	Bracing	Bracing	Bracing	Bracing	Bracing	Bracing	Cool	Cool	Cool	Bracing	Bracing	Bracing

	Sea temperature (°C)	Comfort
Jan	6	Bracing
Feb	5	Bracing
Mar	6	Bracing
Apr	8	Bracing
May	11	Bracing
Jun	15	Bracing
Jul	17	Cool
Aug	18	Cool
Sep	17	Cool
Oct	14	Bracing
Nov	11	Bracing
Dec	8	Bracing

UV index in Leeuwarden in March

LowModerateHighVery highExtreme

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

Under clear skies, the midday UV index in Leeuwarden 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.

	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
UV index (midday)	1	1	3	3	5	6	6	6	4	2	1	1
Level	Low	Low	Moderate	Moderate	High	High	High	High	Moderate	Low	Low	Low

	UV index (midday)	Level
Jan	1	Low
Feb	1	Low
Mar	3	Moderate
Apr	3	Moderate
May	5	High
Jun	6	High
Jul	6	High
Aug	6	High
Sep	4	Moderate
Oct	2	Low
Nov	1	Low
Dec	1	Low

Location & terrain

Where is Leeuwarden?

Leeuwarden sits at 53.2°N, 5.8°E, 1 m above sea level, in The Netherlands. The nearest listed city is Sneek, 21 km away.

Topography around Leeuwarden

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

Within 3 km, the terrain around Leeuwarden has only modest variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 17 m around an average of 2 m above sea level; within 16 km, only modest variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 21 m; within 80 km, only modest variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 62 m.

The land around Leeuwarden is covered by artificial surfaces (42%), grassland (28%) and trees (24%) within 3 km, grassland (71%) within 16 km, and water (49%) and grassland (27%) within 80 km.

3 km

17 m

artificial surfaces 42%

16 km

21 m

grassland 71%

80 km

62 m

water 49%

treesgrasslandcroplandartificial surfaceswaterwetland

← February Leeuwarden year-round climate April →Best places to visit in March

March weather nearby: Sneek 21 km · Drachten 22 km · Harlingen 26 km · Heerenveen 28 km · Leek 38 km · Groningen 50 km · Korrewegwijk 51 km · Steenwijk 51 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

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 Leeuwarden (53.2027°, 5.8097°, elevation 1 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	7	2
2	7	3
3	7	3
4	7	3
5	7	3
6	7	3
7	7	3
8	7	3
9	7	3
10	8	3
11	8	3
12	8	3
13	8	3
14	8	3
15	8	3
16	8	3
17	8	4
18	8	4
19	8	4
20	8	4
21	8	4
22	9	4
23	9	4
24	9	4
25	9	4
26	9	4
27	9	4
28	9	4
29	9	4
30	10	4
31	10	4

	Clearer (%)	Cloudier (%)
1	28	72
2	28	72
3	29	71
4	29	71
5	29	71
6	30	70
7	30	70
8	31	69
9	31	69
10	31	69
11	32	68
12	31	69
13	32	68
14	32	68
15	34	66
16	34	66
17	35	65
18	36	64
19	35	65
20	37	63
21	37	63
22	38	62
23	39	61
24	39	61
25	40	60
26	41	59
27	41	59
28	42	58
29	43	57
30	43	57
31	44	56

	Rain chance (%)	Snow chance (%)
1	41	5
2	41	5
3	41	5
4	40	4
5	39	4
6	38	4
7	38	4
8	37	3
9	36	3
10	35	3
11	34	3
12	34	2
13	33	2
14	32	2
15	32	2
16	32	2
17	31	2
18	31	2
19	31	2
20	31	2
21	32	2
22	32	2
23	32	2
24	32	1
25	33	1
26	33	1
27	33	1
28	33	1
29	33	1
30	33	1
31	33	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	7	2
2	7	3
3	7	3
4	7	3
5	7	3
6	7	3
7	7	3
8	7	3
9	7	3
10	8	3
11	8	3
12	8	3
13	8	3
14	8	3
15	8	3
16	8	3
17	8	4
18	8	4
19	8	4
20	8	4
21	8	4
22	9	4
23	9	4
24	9	4
25	9	4
26	9	4
27	9	4
28	9	4
29	9	4
30	10	4
31	10	4

	Clearer (%)	Cloudier (%)
1	28	72
2	28	72
3	29	71
4	29	71
5	29	71
6	30	70
7	30	70
8	31	69
9	31	69
10	31	69
11	32	68
12	31	69
13	32	68
14	32	68
15	34	66
16	34	66
17	35	65
18	36	64
19	35	65
20	37	63
21	37	63
22	38	62
23	39	61
24	39	61
25	40	60
26	41	59
27	41	59
28	42	58
29	43	57
30	43	57
31	44	56

	Rain chance (%)	Snow chance (%)
1	41	5
2	41	5
3	41	5
4	40	4
5	39	4
6	38	4
7	38	4
8	37	3
9	36	3
10	35	3
11	34	3
12	34	2
13	33	2
14	32	2
15	32	2
16	32	2
17	31	2
18	31	2
19	31	2
20	31	2
21	32	2
22	32	2
23	32	2
24	32	1
25	33	1
26	33	1
27	33	1
28	33	1
29	33	1
30	33	1
31	33	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	7	2
2	7	3
3	7	3
4	7	3
5	7	3
6	7	3
7	7	3
8	7	3
9	7	3
10	8	3
11	8	3
12	8	3
13	8	3
14	8	3
15	8	3
16	8	3
17	8	4
18	8	4
19	8	4
20	8	4
21	8	4
22	9	4
23	9	4
24	9	4
25	9	4
26	9	4
27	9	4
28	9	4
29	9	4
30	10	4
31	10	4

	Clearer (%)	Cloudier (%)
1	28	72
2	28	72
3	29	71
4	29	71
5	29	71
6	30	70
7	30	70
8	31	69
9	31	69
10	31	69
11	32	68
12	31	69
13	32	68
14	32	68
15	34	66
16	34	66
17	35	65
18	36	64
19	35	65
20	37	63
21	37	63
22	38	62
23	39	61
24	39	61
25	40	60
26	41	59
27	41	59
28	42	58
29	43	57
30	43	57
31	44	56

	Rain chance (%)	Snow chance (%)
1	41	5
2	41	5
3	41	5
4	40	4
5	39	4
6	38	4
7	38	4
8	37	3
9	36	3
10	35	3
11	34	3
12	34	2
13	33	2
14	32	2
15	32	2
16	32	2
17	31	2
18	31	2
19	31	2
20	31	2
21	32	2
22	32	2
23	32	2
24	32	1
25	33	1
26	33	1
27	33	1
28	33	1
29	33	1
30	33	1
31	33	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