Cambridge weather in January

In January, Cambridge sees average daytime highs of 7°C and overnight lows near 2°C, with 50 mm of precipitation across 10.8 wet days and about 8 hours of daylight. It is the 12th-warmest and 9th-wettest month of the year here.

Day-to-day highs hold fairly steady near 7°C through the month. The sky is clear or mostly clear about 17% of the time in January, and the air most often feels dry.

Daylight stretches from about 7 h 36 min at the start of January to 8 h 42 min by month's end. Set against the rest of the year, January is Cambridge's 11th-clearest and 1st-windiest month. For the whole year in context, see Cambridge's year-round climate.

Daytime high
12th warmest
Overnight low
2nd coldest
Precipitation
50 mm
10.8 wet days
Daylight
8 hours
8:10 AM – 4:08 PM
Cloud cover
73%
11th clearest
Wind
18 km/h
1st windiest
Solar energy
0.76 kWh/m²
Travel score
1.0
out of 10

Cambridge is city in Cambridgeshire, England.

Density
3,579/km²
people per km²
Founded
~1 CE

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 7°C through the month.

A typical January day in Cambridge reaches about 7°C in the afternoon and slips back to 2°C overnight — a 5°C spread between the day's warmth and the night's chill. On most days the high lands between 3°C and 12°C. Set against its neighbours, January runs on par with December and on par with February.

-5°10°15°151015202531
Avg high (°C)Avg low (°C)
173
273
373
473
573
673
773
873
973
1073
1173
1273
1373
1473
1573
1673
1772
1872
1972
2072
2172
2272
2372
2472
2572
2672
2772
2872
2972
3072
3172

How January really feels in Cambridge

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.

Cambridge weather by month

How January compares with the rest of the year at a glance. January is the 12th-warmest and 9th-wettest month here — the current month is highlighted below.

MonthHigh / Low (°C)Rainfall (mm)Wet daysSnow daysDaylight (hours)Travel score
Jan / 5010.80.781.0
Feb / 399.71.29.51.2
Mar10° / 4310.10.711.52.4
Apr13° / 4810.70.113.63.6
May16° / 5410.5015.45.0
Jun19° / 11°5910.4016.45.9
Jul22° / 13°6011.50166.3
Aug22° / 13°6110.5014.56.3
Sep19° / 11°509.1012.45.9
Oct15° / 5710.4010.34.2
Nov10° / 5510.80.28.52.3
Dec / 5211.20.97.61.1

Cloud cover in January

ClearMostly clearPartly cloudyMostly cloudyOvercast

The sky is clear or mostly clear about 17% of the time in January.

Beyond those clear spells, partly cloudy skies cover about 13% of January, with mostly cloudy or overcast conditions the remaining 70%.

0%25%50%75%100%151015202531
Clearer (%)Cloudier (%)
13070
23070
32971
42971
52872
62872
72971
82971
92971
102971
113070
123070
133070
143070
153070
163169
173169
183169
193169
203169
213169
223169
233169
243169
253070
263070
273070
283070
293070
303070
313070

Chance of precipitation in January

Any precipitationSnow

Cambridge gets around 50 mm of rain and snow over 10.8 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 35% and peaks near 37% on the wettest days, and about 1 day brings snow.

0%10%20%30%40%50%151015202531
Rain chance (%)Snow chance (%)
1373
2373
3373
4373
5373
6373
7373
8373
9362
10362
11362
12362
13352
14352
15352
16352
17342
18342
19342
20342
21343
22333
23333
24333
25333
26333
27333
28333
29333
30334
31334

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 18 km/h in January, the windiest month of the year.

Across January, daily wind ranges from about 18 km/h on the calmest days to 19 km/h at its breeziest. It stays fairly steady from day to day.

0510152025151015202531
Wind speed (km/h)Feels
118light breeze
218light breeze
318light breeze
418light breeze
518light breeze
618light breeze
719light breeze
819light breeze
919light breeze
1019light breeze
1119light breeze
1219light breeze
1318light breeze
1418light breeze
1518light breeze
1618light breeze
1718light breeze
1818light breeze
1918light breeze
2018light breeze
2118light breeze
2218light breeze
2318light breeze
2418light breeze
2518light breeze
2618light breeze
2718light breeze
2818light breeze
2918light breeze
3018light breeze
3118light breeze

Sunrise & sunset in January

DaylightNight

Daylight runs from about 7 h 36 min at the start of January to 8 h 42 min by month's end. The lit band spans sunrise to sunset each day.

Days grow by about 66 minutes over January. Sunrise moves from 8:16 AM to 7:53 AM, and sunset from 3:49 PM to 4:33 PM.

12 AM4 AM8 AM12 PM4 PM8 PM12 AM151015202531
Daylight (h)Sunrise (AM)Sunset (PM)
17.68:163:49
27.68:163:50
37.68:163:51
47.68:163:52
57.68:153:53
67.78:153:55
77.78:153:56
87.78:143:57
97.78:143:58
107.88:144:00
117.88:134:01
127.88:124:02
137.98:124:04
147.98:114:05
157.98:104:07
168.08:104:08
178.08:094:10
188.18:084:11
198.18:074:13
208.18:064:14
218.28:054:16
228.28:044:18
238.38:034:19
248.38:024:21
258.48:004:23
268.47:594:24
278.57:584:26
288.57:574:28
298.67:554:30
308.67:544:31
318.77:534:33

Solar energy in January

Daily solar energy (kWh/m²)

Average shortwave solar energy reaching the ground each day in January, about 0.76 kWh/m².

For context, solar energy here swings from a low near 0.61 kWh/m² to a high of 5.13 kWh/m² in June across the year — January's 0.76 kWh/m² sits near the bottom.

00.511.52151015202531
Solar energy (kWh/m²)Level
10.6Dim
20.6Dim
30.6Dim
40.6Dim
50.6Dim
60.6Dim
70.7Dim
80.7Dim
90.7Dim
100.7Dim
110.7Dim
120.7Dim
130.7Dim
140.7Dim
150.7Dim
160.8Dim
170.8Dim
180.8Dim
190.8Dim
200.8Dim
210.8Dim
220.8Dim
230.9Dim
240.9Dim
250.9Dim
260.9Dim
271.0Dim
281.0Dim
291.0Dim
301.0Dim
311.1Dim
Planning a trip in January

Is January a good time to visit Cambridge?

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

1.0
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 Cambridge.

What to pack for Cambridge in January

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

In January, Cambridge sees daytime highs around 7°C and nights near 2°C. Pack a warm layer. Worth having: a heavy coat and rain gear. About 11 days see rain.

a warm layera heavy coatrain gear

UV index in Cambridge 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 Cambridge peaks around August 11 at about 6 (high) — sunscreen and a hat are worth it in the middle of the day. It bottoms out near December 21 at about 1 (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 1
UV index (midday)Level
Jan1Low
Feb1Low
Mar3Moderate
Apr3Moderate
May6High
Jun6High
Jul6High
Aug6High
Sep4Moderate
Oct2Moderate
Nov1Low
Dec1Low
Location & terrain

Where is Cambridge?

Cambridge sits at 52.2°N, 0.1°E, 12 m above sea level, in United Kingdom. The nearest listed city is Royston, 19 km away.

Topography around Cambridge

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

Within 3 km, the terrain around Cambridge has only modest variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 26 m around an average of 14 m above sea level; within 16 km, only modest variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 136 m; within 80 km, significant variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 304 m.

The land around Cambridge is covered by artificial surfaces (32%), trees (30%) and grassland (23%) within 3 km, cropland (61%) and grassland (21%) within 16 km, and cropland (55%) and grassland (22%) within 80 km.

3 km
26 m
16 km
136 m
80 km
304 m
treesgrasslandcroplandartificial surfaceswater
January weather nearby: Royston 19 km · Saint Ives 20 km · Newmarket 20 km · Saffron Walden 21 km · Ely 24 km · Huntingdon 25 km · Haverhill 26 km · Saint Neots 26 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 Cambridge (52.2°, 0.1167°, elevation 12 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).