Climate and average weather in Lowestoft

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

Best: late June to late September

Over the course of the year, the temperature in Lowestoft typically varies from 4°C to 18°C, and is rarely below 1°C or above 21°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 Lowestoft for warm-weather activities is from late June to late September.

Hottest
Aug
18°
Coldest
Feb
Wettest
Oct
81 mm
Driest
Apr
37 mm
Rain / yr
724 mm
135 wet days
Daylight
7.4–16.6 h
shortest–longest
Elevation
7 m
52.5°N
Clearest
Jul
61% cloud

Lowestoft is town and civil parish in East Suffolk, England.

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

Lowestoft 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 June to late September.

Temperature through the year

Average highAverage lowShaded bands: 10–90% of days

Daily average highs and lows in Lowestoft, 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 21 to September 30, with daily high temperatures above 16°C. The hottest month of the year in Lowestoft is August, with an average high of 18°C and low of 16°C.

The cool season lasts 4.3 months, from December 3 to April 11, with daily high temperatures below 9°C. The coldest month of the year in Lowestoft is February, with an average low of 4°C and high of 7°C.

Days typically run about 2°C warmer than nights year-round.

10°15°20°25°JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Avg high (°C)Avg low (°C)
Jan74
Feb74
Mar85
Apr97
May1210
Jun1513
Jul1815
Aug1816
Sep1714
Oct1411
Nov118
Dec86

How hot and cold Lowestoft 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 -1°C (around January 28), with roughly 69 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)
Jan7704
Feb77-14
Mar8815
Apr9937
May1212810
Jun15151313
Jul18181515
Aug18181616
Sep17171414
Oct14141111
Nov111148
Dec8816

Average hourly temperature in Lowestoft

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 18°C, and coldest before dawn in February, near C.

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

Lowestoft 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 / 6413.10.680.8
Feb / 5310.60.99.50.6
Mar / 4810.70.511.51.1
Apr / 378.8013.62.0
May12° / 10°488.7015.53.3
Jun15° / 13°5410.1016.54.5
Jul18° / 15°5911.2016.15.6
Aug18° / 16°6410.2014.55.9
Sep17° / 14°6611012.45.2
Oct14° / 11°8112.9010.33.7
Nov11° / 7914.50.18.52.2
Dec / 7213.60.57.51.2

Chance of rain

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

Lowestoft gets about 724 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 Sep 16 to Mar 9, peaking in November at about 49% chance on a given day. The drier stretch runs the rest of the year, bottoming out around May 12.

October is the wettest month by volume, with 81 mm over about 13 wet days; April is the driest, with 37 mm.

0%10%20%30%40%50%60%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecwetterdrierwettermostly drysome rainoften wetvery wetNov 13 · 49%May 12 · 28%
Rain on a day (%)Rain days
Jan4213
Feb3911
Mar3411
Apr299
May299
Jun3410
Jul3511
Aug3310
Sep3711
Oct4213
Nov4815
Dec4414

Monthly rainfall

Over a full year, Lowestoft collects about 724 mm of rain across 135 wet days — roughly 60 mm in an average month.

It doesn’t fall evenly. October is the wettest month with 81 mm, while April is the driest at just 37 mm. The three wettest months alone bring about 32% of the year’s total, and some of the cold-season precipitation falls as snow.

0255075100JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec645348374854596466817972
Rainfall (mm)Rain daysSnow days
Jan64131
Feb53111
Mar48111
Apr3790
May4890
Jun54100
Jul59110
Aug64100
Sep66110
Oct81130
Nov79150
Dec72141

Clouds and sunshine

ClearMostly clearPartly cloudyMostly cloudyOvercast

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

In Lowestoft, 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 June 24 and lasts for 3.0 months, ending around September 22. The clearest month is August, when the sky is clear, mostly clear, or partly cloudy 45% of the time on average.

The cloudier part of the year begins around September 23 and lasts for 6.0 months, ending around March 24. The cloudiest month is January, when it is overcast or mostly cloudy 70% 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%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecJul 27 · 47%Jan 28 · 29%clearmostly clearpartly cloudymostly cloudyovercastcloudierclearercloudier
Clearer (%)Cloudier (%)
Jan3070
Feb3169
Mar3466
Apr4159
May4258
Jun3862
Jul4357
Aug4555
Sep4060
Oct3565
Nov3466
Dec3367

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 17, brings about 16 h 36 min of light; the shortest, around December 16, only 7 h 24 min — a swing of roughly 9 h 12 min.

12 AM4 AM8 AM12 PM4 PM8 PM12 AMJanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Daylight (h)Sunrise (AM)Sunset (PM)
Jan8.08:044:00
Feb9.57:224:54
Mar11.56:185:47
Apr13.65:046:43
May15.54:047:34
Jun16.53:378:10
Jul16.13:558:02
Aug14.54:427:12
Sep12.45:355:59
Oct10.36:284:48
Nov8.57:253:51
Dec7.58:063:33

Sunny days

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

Lowestoft averages about 6 sunny days a month — counting the days the sky stays clear or mostly clear — with a clear seasonal swing between 4 and 8 days.

The sunnier stretch runs 3.0 months, from around Mar 17 to Jun 14. The sunniest month is May, with roughly 8 sunny days (gloomy).

The greyest month is January, down near 4 sunny days — about 43% fewer than the May peak.

051015JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecgreyersunniergreyergloomymixedMay 98 daysJan 294 days
Sunny daysSky
Jan4Gloomy
Feb4Gloomy
Mar6Gloomy
Apr7Gloomy
May8Gloomy
Jun6Gloomy
Jul7Gloomy
Aug6Gloomy
Sep6Gloomy
Oct5Gloomy
Nov5Gloomy
Dec5Gloomy

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 Lowestoft, how humid it feels changes noticeably over the year.

The more humid part of the year lasts 2.7 months, from around July 4 to September 24. The muggiest month is August, when the air feels humid, muggy or worse about 22% of the time.

The most comfortable stretch runs from around September 25 to July 3, and June is the most comfortable month — the air is dry or comfortable 99% of the time.

0%10%20%30%40%50%60%70%80%90%100%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecJun 10 · 100%Aug 7 · 75%humidcomfortabledrycomfortablehumidcomfortable
Dry (%)Comfortable (%)Humid (%)Muggy (%)
Jan100000
Feb100000
Mar100000
Apr100000
May99100
Jun792110
Jul3949120
Aug3543211
Sep632970
Oct861300
Nov99100
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 Lowestoft is typically breezy, near 24 km/h, and varies moderately with the seasons.

The windier part of the year lasts 5.8 months, from around Sep 24 to Mar 19. The windiest month is January, averaging about 28 km/h (breezy).

The calmer part of the year runs from around Mar 20 to Sep 23, with July the calmest month at about 19 km/h.

05101520253035JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecwindiercalmerwindiercalmlight breezebreezywindyJan 6 · 29 km/hJul 24 · 19 km/h
Wind speed (km/h)Feels
Jan28breezy
Feb26breezy
Mar24breezy
Apr22breezy
May21breezy
Jun20breezy
Jul19light breeze
Aug21breezy
Sep23breezy
Oct26breezy
Nov27breezy
Dec28breezy

Best time to visit Lowestoft

TravelBeach/poolTemperatureCloudsPrecipitation

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

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

0246810JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecbest timetravel scoretemperaturecloudsprecipitationJul 31 · 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
Jan0.8poor
Feb0.6poor
Mar1.1poor
Apr2.0poor
May3.3poor
Jun4.5fair
Jul5.6good
Aug5.9good
Sep5.2fair
Oct3.7fair
Nov2.2poor
Dec1.2poor

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 Lowestoft for hot-weather activities is from late July to late August, with a peak score in the second week of August.

024681012JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecbest timebeach/pool scoretemperaturecloudsprecipitationAug 8 · 2.4

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 Lowestoft, 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 18°C), the essentials are rain gear, sun protection and a windbreaker. In the cold season around February (highs near 7°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, Lowestoft sees daytime highs around 18°C and nights near 16°C. Worth packing: rain gear, sun protection and a windbreaker. About 10 days see rain.

Sea temperature near Lowestoft

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 14 km away) is warmest in August at about 18°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°JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecbracingcoolrefreshing
Sea temperature (°C)Comfort
Jan7Bracing
Feb6Bracing
Mar6Bracing
Apr8Bracing
May10Bracing
Jun13Bracing
Jul16Cool
Aug18Cool
Sep17Cool
Oct15Bracing
Nov12Bracing
Dec9Bracing

UV index (midday) in Lowestoft 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 Lowestoft peaks around June 23 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.

025710JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecLowModerateHighModerateLowJun 23UV 6Dec 21UV 1
UV index (midday)Level
Jan1Low
Feb1Low
Mar3Moderate
Apr3Moderate
May6High
Jun6High
Jul6High
Aug6High
Sep4Moderate
Oct2Low
Nov1Low
Dec1Low

Average hourly UV index in Lowestoft

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 7.5 hours a day reach index 3 (protection recommended), and 1.5 hours reach 6 or more. 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
Jun7.51.5
Jul7.52
Aug70
Sep40
Oct00
Nov00
Dec00
Almanac & agriculture

Growing season

Chance of a frost-free dayFrost-free year round

Lowestoft is frost-free year round — even the coldest nights rarely reach freezing, so there is no start or end to the growing season.

0%25%50%75%100%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecfrost-free year round
Frost-free chance (%)Frost nights
Jan980
Feb970
Mar990
Apr1000
May1000
Jun1000
Jul1000
Aug1000
Sep1000
Oct1000
Nov1000
Dec990

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. Lowestoft banks about 820 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
May30
Jun118
Jul198
Aug221
Sep165
Oct84
Nov5
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.

Lowestoft receives about 3.2 kWh/m² a day of solar energy on average — moderate — with a clear seasonal swing between 0.6 and 5.9 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 5.8 kWh/m² (bright).

The dimmest month is December, down near 0.6 kWh/m² — roughly 89% less than the June peak.

01234567JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecdimmerbrighterdimmerdimmoderatebrightintenseJun 255.9 kWhDec 230.6 kWh
Solar energy (kWh/m²)Level
Jan0.8Dim
Feb1.5Dim
Mar2.9Moderate
Apr4.6Bright
May5.6Bright
Jun5.8Bright
Jul5.7Bright
Aug4.7Bright
Sep3.3Moderate
Oct1.9Dim
Nov1.0Dim
Dec0.6Dim

Where is Lowestoft?

Lowestoft sits at 52.5°N, 1.8°E, 7 m above sea level, in United Kingdom. The nearest listed city is Great Yarmouth, 15 km away.

Topography around Lowestoft

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

Within 3 km, the terrain around Lowestoft has only modest variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 36 m around an average of 6 m above sea level; within 16 km, only modest variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 59 m; within 80 km, only modest variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 126 m.

The land around Lowestoft is covered by water (52%) and artificial surfaces (27%) within 3 km, water (56%) within 16 km, and water (39%) and cropland (36%) within 80 km.

3 km
36 m
16 km
59 m
80 km
126 m
treesgrasslandcroplandartificial surfacesbare terrainwaterwetland
Nearby: Great Yarmouth 15 km · Norwich 35 km · Bowthorpe 40 km · East Dereham 60 km · Stowmarket 60 km · Ipswich 62 km · Felixstowe 63 km · Harwich 67 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 Lowestoft (52.4752°, 1.7517°, elevation 7 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).