Burnley in Winter

In winter (December, January and February), Burnley sees average daytime highs around 6°C and overnight lows near 1°C, with 318 mm of precipitation over about 45 wet days across the season. It is the coldest season of the year and the wettest season of the year.

Across winter, daytime highs hold fairly steady around 6°C. The sky is clear or mostly clear about 11% of the time across winter, and the air most often feels dry.

Winter is Burnley's weakest season of the year to visit on our travel score. For the whole year in context, see Burnley's year-round climate.

Avg daytime high
6°C
coldest season of the year
Avg overnight low
1°C
Precipitation
318 mm
45 wet days
Avg wind
17 km/h
Travel score
0.4
weakest season of the year
Months
Dec · Jan · Feb

Temperature in Burnley in Winter

Average highAverage lowShaded bands: 10–90% of days

Across winter, daytime highs hold fairly steady around 6°C.

A typical winter day in Burnley reaches about 6°C and drops to 1°C overnight. The warmest of the three months is February, the coolest February.

-5°10°15°DecJanFeb

How winter really feels in Burnley

Once humidity and wind are folded in, winter brings about 0 days that feel above 32°C and 90 that feel at or below 0°C.

Days feeling ≥ 32°C
0
heat index over the day's high
Days feeling ≤ C
90
wind chill below the day's low

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

Burnley weather by month

How the three winter months (December, January and February) compare with the rest of the year — the season's months are highlighted.

MonthHigh / Low (°C)Rainfall (mm)Wet daysSnow daysDaylight (hours)Travel score
Jan / 10615.92.87.80.3
Feb / 9413.93.29.40.5
Mar / 8813.9211.51.3
Apr11° / 7713.60.813.72.5
May14° / 8213.6015.63.7
Jun17° / 9514.6016.74.5
Jul18° / 11°10116.1016.35.0
Aug18° / 11°10616014.64.9
Sep16° / 8913.1012.54.3
Oct12° / 10415.10.110.22.8
Nov / 10315.90.68.31.3
Dec / 11815.62.27.30.4

Cloud cover in Winter

ClearMostly clearPartly cloudyMostly cloudyOvercast

The sky is clear or mostly clear about 11% of the time across winter.

0%25%50%75%100%DecJanFeb

Chance of precipitation in Winter

Any precipitationSnow

Burnley gets around 318 mm of rain and snow over 45 wet days across winter. The line is the day-by-day chance of measurable precipitation.

0%20%40%60%DecJanFeb

Humidity in Winter

DryComfortableHumidMuggyOppressiveMiserable

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

0%25%50%75%100%DecJanFeb

Wind in Winter

Winds average 17 km/h across winter.

05101520DecJanFeb

Sunrise & sunset in Winter

DaylightNight

Daylight runs from about 7 h 36 min in early December to 10 h 18 min by late February. The lit band spans sunrise to sunset each day.

12 AM4 AM8 AM12 PM4 PM8 PM12 AMDecJanFeb

Solar energy in Winter

Daily solar energy (kWh/m²)

Average shortwave solar energy reaching the ground each day across winter, about 0.8 kWh/m².

00.511.522.5DecJanFeb
Planning a trip in winter

Is winter a good time to visit Burnley?

Our two travel scores rate winter for general sightseeing and for beach or pool weather — 0 (poor) to 10 (ideal), averaged across the three months.

0.4
Sightseeing
4th-best month of the year
0.0
Beach & pool
4th-best month of the year

winter is a weaker month for outdoor sightseeing in Burnley.

What to pack for Burnley in Winter

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

In winter, Burnley sees daytime highs around 6°C and nights near 1°C. Pack a warm layer and rain gear. Worth having: a heavy coat. About 45 days see rain.

a warm layerrain geara heavy coat

Sea temperature near Burnley in Winter

The nearest coast averages about 7°C across winter — the other half of the beach question. The full-year curve and swim-comfort zones are below.

The sea at the nearest coast (about 55 km away) is warmest in August at about 17°C and coldest in February near 6°C.

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

5°10°15°20°JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecbracingcool
Sea temperature (°C)Comfort
Jan7Bracing
Feb6Bracing
Mar7Bracing
Apr9Bracing
May12Bracing
Jun15Bracing
Jul17Cool
Aug17Cool
Sep16Cool
Oct13Bracing
Nov11Bracing
Dec8Bracing

UV index in Burnley in Winter

LowModerateHighVery highExtreme

Clear-sky midday UV across winter averages around 1. The full-year curve, shaded by WHO exposure level, is below.

Under clear skies, the midday UV index in Burnley peaks around August 11 at about 6 (high) — a little sun protection helps at midday. It bottoms out near December 21 at about 0 (low).

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

025710JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecLowModerateHighModerateLowAug 11UV 6Dec 21UV 0
UV index (midday)Level
Jan1Low
Feb1Low
Mar3Moderate
Apr3Moderate
May6High
Jun5High
Jul6High
Aug6High
Sep4Moderate
Oct2Low
Nov1Low
Dec0Low
Location & terrain

Where is Burnley?

Burnley sits at 53.8°N, 2.2°W, 140 m above sea level, in United Kingdom. The nearest listed city is Nelson, 4.0 km away.

Topography around Burnley

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

Within 3 km, the terrain around Burnley has only modest variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 190 m around an average of 159 m above sea level; within 16 km, significant variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 540 m; within 80 km, large variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 734 m.

The land around Burnley is covered by grassland (34%), trees (33%) and artificial surfaces (33%) within 3 km, grassland (76%) within 16 km, and grassland (54%) within 80 km.

3 km
190 m
16 km
540 m
80 km
734 m
treesgrasslandcroplandartificial surfaceswater
Winter weather nearby: Nelson 4.0 km · Colne 8.0 km · Accrington 10 km · Rawtenstall 12 km · Haslingden 12 km · Rossendale 13 km · Blackburn 17 km · Ramsbottom 18 km

United Kingdom travel facts

Travel advisory
Level 2
Exercise Increased Caution
Power plugs
Type D / G / M
230 V · 50 Hz
Prices
≈ 89% of US
price level, 2025
GDP per capita
$57,602
2025
Happiness
6.7 / 10
World Happiness, 2025
Safe drinking water
100%
of population, 2024
Homicide rate
1.1
per 100k, 2021
Road deaths
3.2
per 100k/yr, 2019
Income group
High
World Bank
Religion
Christian 60%none 26%Muslim 4%other 2%

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 Burnley (53.8°, -2.2333°, elevation 140 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.