Climate and average weather in Heywood

In Heywood, the summers are mild, wet, and mostly cloudy and the winters are cold, snowy, and mostly cloudy.

Best: late May to late September

Over the course of the year, the temperature in Heywood typically varies from 2°C to 19°C, and is rarely below -4°C or above 24°C. July is the hottest month of the year, while January is the coldest.

Based on the travel score, the best time of year to visit Heywood for warm-weather activities is from late May to late September.

Hottest
Jul
19°
Coldest
Jan
Wettest
Dec
99 mm
Driest
Apr
66 mm
Rain / yr
981 mm
169 wet days
Daylight
7.2–16.8 h
shortest–longest
Elevation
121 m
53.6°N
Clearest
May
70% cloud

Heywood is town in the Metropolitan Borough of Rochdale, Greater Manchester, England, UK.

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

Heywood 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 late May to late September.

Temperature through the year

Average highAverage lowShaded bands: 10–90% of days

Daily average highs and lows in Heywood, from 1991–2020 of climate data. The shaded bands show the range most days fall in — 10th to 90th percentile.

The hot season lasts 3.6 months, from May 31 to September 16, with daily high temperatures above 16°C. The hottest month of the year in Heywood is July, with an average high of 19°C and low of 12°C.

The cool season lasts 3.8 months, from November 18 to March 12, with daily high temperatures below 9°C. The coldest month of the year in Heywood is January, with an average low of 2°C and high of 6°C.

Days typically run about 6°C warmer than nights, with the widest day–night swing (around 8°C) in May.

-5°10°15°20°25°JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Avg high (°C)Avg low (°C)
Jan62
Feb72
Mar93
Apr124
May157
Jun1710
Jul1912
Aug1912
Sep1610
Oct137
Nov94
Dec72

How hot and cold Heywood 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 28), with roughly 133 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)
Jan66-22
Feb77-32
Mar99-13
Apr121214
May151547
Jun1717910
Jul19191212
Aug19191212
Sep1616810
Oct131347
Nov9914
Dec77-22

Average hourly temperature in Heywood

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 July afternoons, near 19°C, and coldest before dawn in January, near C.

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

Heywood 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 / 88151.87.80.5
Feb / 7713.32.19.40.8
Mar / 7413.11.311.51.7
Apr12° / 6612.90.513.72.8
May15° / 6912.8015.64.1
Jun17° / 10°8413.9016.74.9
Jul19° / 12°8415.2016.35.3
Aug19° / 12°8915.2014.65.2
Sep16° / 10°7612.4012.54.6
Oct13° / 9014.5010.33.1
Nov / 8815.30.28.31.6
Dec / 99151.57.30.7

Chance of rain

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

Heywood gets about 981 mm of precipitation a year. On a typical day the chance of rain is very wet, but that rises and falls sharply with the seasons.

The wetter season lasts 3.2 months, from around Oct 21 to Jan 25, peaking in November at about 53% chance on a given day. The drier stretch runs the rest of the year, bottoming out around Apr 14.

December is the wettest month by volume, with 99 mm over about 15 wet days; April is the driest, with 66 mm. Some of the cold-season precipitation falls as snow.

0%10%20%30%40%50%60%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecwetterdrierwettermostly drysome rainoften wetvery wetNov 6 · 53%Apr 14 · 39%
Rain on a day (%)Rain days
Jan4815
Feb4713
Mar4313
Apr4113
May4313
Jun4714
Jul4815
Aug4915
Sep4312
Oct4715
Nov5115
Dec4915

Monthly rainfall

Over a full year, Heywood collects about 981 mm of rain across 169 wet days — roughly 82 mm in an average month.

It doesn’t fall evenly. December is the wettest month with 99 mm, while April is the driest at just 66 mm. The three wettest months alone bring about 28% of the year’s total, and some of the cold-season precipitation falls as snow.

0255075100125JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec887774666984848976908899
Rainfall (mm)Rain daysSnow days
Jan88152
Feb77132
Mar74131
Apr66131
May69130
Jun84140
Jul84150
Aug89150
Sep76120
Oct90150
Nov88150
Dec99152

Snow in Heywood

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.

Heywood averages about 7 snowy days a year. Snow season runs roughly Nov 25 to Apr 15 — about 4.7 months.

February is snowiest, with roughly 2 days of snow and an estimated 7 cm of snowfall. Over the year that adds up to an estimated 26 cm of snow.

01234JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecsnow seasonFeb 26
Snow daysSnowfall (cm)
Jan27
Feb27
Mar15
Apr12
May00
Jun00
Jul00
Aug00
Sep00
Oct00
Nov02
Dec24

Clouds and sunshine

ClearMostly clearPartly cloudyMostly cloudyOvercast

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

In Heywood, the average share of the sky covered by clouds shows mild seasonal variation over the course of the year.

The clearer part of the year begins around March 25 and lasts for 2.5 months, ending around June 9. The clearest month is May, when the sky is clear, mostly clear, or partly cloudy 30% of the time on average.

The cloudier part of the year begins around January 8 and lasts for 2.5 months, ending around March 24. The cloudiest month is October, when it is overcast or mostly cloudy 77% 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%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecMay 11 · 31%Mar 13 · 22%mostly clearpartly cloudymostly cloudyovercastcloudierclearercloudier
Clearer (%)Cloudier (%)
Jan2575
Feb2575
Mar2476
Apr2872
May3070
Jun2674
Jul2872
Aug2872
Sep2575
Oct2377
Nov2476
Dec2674

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 16, brings about 16 h 48 min of light; the shortest, around December 15, only 7 h 12 min — a swing of roughly 9 h 36 min.

12 AM4 AM8 AM12 PM4 PM8 PM12 AMJanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Daylight (h)Sunrise (AM)Sunset (PM)
Jan7.88:264:10
Feb9.47:415:06
Mar11.56:346:03
Apr13.75:187:01
May15.64:167:55
Jun16.73:468:32
Jul16.34:058:24
Aug14.64:557:31
Sep12.55:516:16
Oct10.36:465:01
Nov8.37:464:02
Dec7.38:283:42

Sunny days

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

Heywood gets about 3 sunny days a month gloomy — and it barely shifts through the year, holding between 3 and 5 days every month. Clear skies here are a flat line, not a season.

0510JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecgloomymixedJan 15 daysOct 253 days
Sunny daysSky
Jan4Gloomy
Feb3Gloomy
Mar3Gloomy
Apr4Gloomy
May4Gloomy
Jun3Gloomy
Jul3Gloomy
Aug3Gloomy
Sep3Gloomy
Oct3Gloomy
Nov3Gloomy
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 Heywood, the air stays dry or comfortable essentially all year. Even in August, the muggiest month, it feels humid or worse only about 6% of the time — humidity is not something you need to plan around here.

0%10%20%30%40%50%60%70%80%90%100%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDeccomfortabledry
Dry (%)Comfortable (%)Humid (%)
Jan10000
Feb10000
Mar10000
Apr10000
May9820
Jun88111
Jul67295
Aug65296
Sep86131
Oct9640
Nov10000
Dec10000

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 Heywood is typically light breeze, near 15 km/h, and varies little with the seasons.

The windier part of the year lasts 6.0 months, from around Oct 7 to Apr 6. The windiest month is January, averaging about 17 km/h (light breeze).

The calmer part of the year runs from around Apr 7 to Oct 6, with July the calmest month at about 13 km/h.

0510152025JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecwindiercalmerwindiercalmlight breezebreezyJan 9 · 17 km/hJul 27 · 13 km/h
Wind speed (km/h)Feels
Jan17light breeze
Feb17light breeze
Mar16light breeze
Apr15light breeze
May15light breeze
Jun14light breeze
Jul13light breeze
Aug13light breeze
Sep14light breeze
Oct15light breeze
Nov16light breeze
Dec16light breeze

Best time to visit Heywood

TravelBeach/poolTemperatureCloudsPrecipitation

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

Around mid September, Heywood 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 Heywood for general outdoor tourist activities is from late May to late September, with a peak score in the last week of July.

0246810JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecbest timetravel scoretemperaturecloudsprecipitationJul 23 · 5.4

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
Jan0.5poor
Feb0.8poor
Mar1.7poor
Apr2.9poor
May4.1fair
Jun4.9fair
Jul5.3fair
Aug5.2fair
Sep4.6fair
Oct3.1poor
Nov1.6poor
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 Heywood for hot-weather activities is from early July to mid August, with a peak score in the last week of July.

024681012JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecbest timebeach/pool scoretemperaturecloudsprecipitationJul 27 · 2.6

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 Heywood, 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 July (highs near 19°C), the essentials are rain gear and sun protection. In the cold season around January (highs near 6°C), pack a warm layer, a heavy coat and rain gear.

Light clothing
Warm layer
Winter coat
Rain gear
Sun protection
Windbreaker

In July, Heywood sees daytime highs around 19°C and nights near 12°C. Pack rain gear. Worth having: sun protection. About 15 days see rain.

Sea temperature near Heywood

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

The sea at the nearest coast (about 60 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
May11Bracing
Jun14Bracing
Jul16Cool
Aug17Cool
Sep16Cool
Oct14Bracing
Nov11Bracing
Dec9Bracing

UV index (midday) in Heywood 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 Heywood peaks around August 12 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.

025710JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecLowModerateHighModerateLowAug 12UV 6Jan 1UV 1
UV index (midday)Level
Jan1Low
Feb1Low
Mar3Moderate
Apr3Moderate
May6High
Jun5High
Jul5High
Aug6High
Sep4Moderate
Oct2Low
Nov1Low
Dec1Low

Average hourly UV index in Heywood

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 August the burn window is concentrated in the middle of the day: about 6.5 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
Apr1.50
May6.50
Jun70
Jul70
Aug6.50
Sep3.50
Oct00
Nov00
Dec00
Almanac & agriculture

Growing season

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

Heywood is mild enough that a frost-free day stays more likely than not even in midwinter. Nights are reliably above freezing from about April 7 to November 11 (219 days); outside that window a hard frost is an occasional risk.

0%25%50%75%100%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecreliably frost-freeApr 790%Nov 1190%
Frost-free chance (%)Frost nights
Jan7231
Feb7028
Mar8231
Apr9313
May990
Jun1000
Jul1000
Aug1000
Sep1000
Oct970
Nov8721
Dec7231

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. Heywood banks about 571 degree days a year, and the running total — which growers use to time plantings and predict maturity — climbs fastest around July.

0200400600JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Growing degree days (°C·days)
Jan0
Feb0
Mar0
Apr0
May32
Jun108
Jul168
Aug161
Sep88
Oct13
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.

Heywood receives about 2.7 kWh/m² a day of solar energy on average — moderate — with a clear seasonal swing between 0.5 and 4.8 kWh/m².

The brighter stretch of the year lasts 5.9 months, from around Mar 22 to Sep 16. The brightest month is June, averaging about 4.8 kWh/m² (bright).

The dimmest month is December, down near 0.5 kWh/m² — roughly 89% less than the June peak.

0123456JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecdimmerbrighterdimmerdimmoderatebrightJun 244.8 kWhDec 210.5 kWh
Solar energy (kWh/m²)Level
Jan0.6Dim
Feb1.3Dim
Mar2.4Moderate
Apr3.8Moderate
May4.8Bright
Jun4.8Bright
Jul4.7Bright
Aug3.8Moderate
Sep2.7Moderate
Oct1.6Dim
Nov0.8Dim
Dec0.5Dim

Where is Heywood?

Heywood sits at 53.6°N, 2.2°W, 121 m above sea level, in United Kingdom. The nearest listed city is Middleton, 5.0 km away.

Topography around Heywood

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

Within 3 km, the terrain around Heywood has only modest variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 144 m around an average of 132 m above sea level; within 16 km, significant variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 464 m; within 80 km, large variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 739 m.

The land around Heywood is covered by grassland (37%), trees (34%) and artificial surfaces (27%) within 3 km, grassland (46%), artificial surfaces (27%) and trees (25%) within 16 km, and grassland (53%) within 80 km.

3 km
144 m
16 km
464 m
80 km
739 m
treesgrasslandcroplandartificial surfaceswater
Nearby: Middleton 5.0 km · Rochdale 5.0 km · Bury 5.0 km · Royton 7.0 km · Whitefield 7.0 km · Chadderton 7.0 km · Radcliffe 8.0 km · Prestwich 8.0 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 Heywood (53.5924°, -2.2194°, elevation 121 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).