Climate and average weather in Margate

In Margate, 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 Margate typically varies from 5°C to 19°C, and is rarely below 2°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 Margate for warm-weather activities is from late June to late September.

Hottest
Aug
19°
Coldest
Feb
Wettest
Nov
83 mm
Driest
Apr
39 mm
Rain / yr
715 mm
134 wet days
Daylight
7.6–16.4 h
shortest–longest
Elevation
24 m
51.4°N
Clearest
Jul
57% cloud

Margate is town in Kent, England.

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

Margate 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 Margate, from 1991–2020 of climate data. The shaded bands show the range most days fall in — 10th to 90th percentile.

The hot season lasts 3.5 months, from June 19 to October 1, with daily high temperatures above 16°C. The hottest month of the year in Margate is August, with an average high of 19°C and low of 17°C.

The cool season lasts 4.1 months, from December 4 to April 8, with daily high temperatures below 9°C. The coldest month of the year in Margate is February, with an average low of 5°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)
Jan85
Feb75
Mar86
Apr108
May1311
Jun1613
Jul1816
Aug1917
Sep1715
Oct1512
Nov119
Dec96

How hot and cold Margate 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 -0°C (around January 31), with roughly 12 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)
Jan8815
Feb7705
Mar8826
Apr101048
May13131011
Jun16161313
Jul18181616
Aug19191617
Sep17171515
Oct15151212
Nov111169
Dec9926

Average hourly temperature in Margate

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 19°C, and coldest before dawn in February, near C.

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

Margate 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 / 6713.40.68.21.1
Feb / 5411.20.99.60.9
Mar / 439.70.311.51.4
Apr10° / 398.9013.52.3
May13° / 11°479.2015.33.6
Jun16° / 13°489.4016.34.9
Jul18° / 16°5210015.96.0
Aug19° / 17°619.6014.46.1
Sep17° / 15°6010.8012.45.4
Oct15° / 12°8213.3010.43.9
Nov11° / 8314.70.18.62.4
Dec / 7914.10.67.71.5

Chance of rain

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

Margate gets about 715 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 5.6 months, from around Sep 17 to Mar 4, peaking in November at about 49% chance on a given day. The drier stretch runs the rest of the year, bottoming out around Apr 13.

November is the wettest month by volume, with 83 mm over about 15 wet days; April is the driest, with 39 mm.

0%10%20%30%40%50%60%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecwetterdrierwettermostly drysome rainoften wetvery wetNov 13 · 49%Apr 13 · 27%
Rain on a day (%)Rain days
Jan4313
Feb4011
Mar3110
Apr299
May319
Jun319
Jul3110
Aug3210
Sep3711
Oct4313
Nov4815
Dec4614

Monthly rainfall

Over a full year, Margate collects about 715 mm of rain across 134 wet days — roughly 60 mm in an average month.

It doesn’t fall evenly. November is the wettest month with 83 mm, while April is the driest at just 39 mm. The three wettest months alone bring about 34% of the year’s total, and some of the cold-season precipitation falls as snow.

0255075100JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec675443394748526160828379
Rainfall (mm)Rain daysSnow days
Jan67131
Feb54111
Mar43100
Apr3990
May4790
Jun4890
Jul52100
Aug61100
Sep60110
Oct82130
Nov83150
Dec79141

Clouds and sunshine

ClearMostly clearPartly cloudyMostly cloudyOvercast

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

In Margate, 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 March 24 and lasts for 6.0 months, ending around September 23. The clearest month is July, when the sky is clear, mostly clear, or partly cloudy 51% of the time on average.

The cloudier part of the year begins around September 24 and lasts for 5.9 months, ending around March 23. The cloudiest month is February, 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 31 · 54%Feb 2 · 28%clearmostly clearpartly cloudymostly cloudyovercastcloudierclearercloudier
Clearer (%)Cloudier (%)
Jan3070
Feb3070
Mar3664
Apr4555
May4654
Jun4654
Jul5149
Aug5050
Sep4357
Oct3565
Nov3169
Dec3169

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 24 min of light; the shortest, around December 16, only 7 h 36 min — a swing of roughly 8 h 48 min.

12 AM4 AM8 AM12 PM4 PM8 PM12 AMJanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Daylight (h)Sunrise (AM)Sunset (PM)
Jan8.28:014:07
Feb9.67:204:58
Mar11.56:195:49
Apr13.55:076:42
May15.34:107:31
Jun16.33:448:05
Jul15.94:027:59
Aug14.44:477:11
Sep12.45:376:00
Oct10.46:284:51
Nov8.67:223:57
Dec7.78:013:40

Sunny days

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

Margate 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 10 days.

The sunnier stretch runs 6.3 months, from around Mar 19 to Sep 26. The sunniest month is July, with roughly 9 sunny days (mixed).

The greyest month is November, down near 4 sunny days — about 50% fewer than the July peak.

051015JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecgreyersunniergreyergloomymixedJul 2610 daysNov 254 days
Sunny daysSky
Jan5Gloomy
Feb4Gloomy
Mar6Gloomy
Apr8Mixed
May8Mixed
Jun7Gloomy
Jul9Mixed
Aug8Gloomy
Sep7Gloomy
Oct6Gloomy
Nov4Gloomy
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 Margate, how humid it feels changes noticeably over the year.

The more humid part of the year lasts 2.9 months, from around June 30 to September 24. The muggiest month is August, when the air feels humid, muggy or worse about 25% of the time.

The most comfortable stretch runs from around September 25 to June 29, and October is the most comfortable month — the air is dry or comfortable 100% of the time.

0%10%20%30%40%50%60%70%80%90%100%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecOct 23 · 100%Aug 4 · 71%humidcomfortabledrycomfortablehumidcomfortable
Dry (%)Comfortable (%)Humid (%)Muggy (%)
Jan100000
Feb100000
Mar100000
Apr100000
May98200
Jun732620
Jul3350160
Aug2846241
Sep593290
Oct821700
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 Margate is typically breezy, near 25 km/h, and varies a lot with the seasons.

The windier part of the year lasts 5.7 months, from around Sep 29 to Mar 20. The windiest month is January, averaging about 30 km/h (windy).

The calmer part of the year runs from around Mar 21 to Sep 28, with July the calmest month at about 21 km/h.

05101520253035JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecwindiercalmerwindiercalmlight breezebreezywindyJan 5 · 31 km/hJul 27 · 20 km/h
Wind speed (km/h)Feels
Jan30windy
Feb28breezy
Mar26breezy
Apr23breezy
May22breezy
Jun21breezy
Jul21breezy
Aug21breezy
Sep24breezy
Oct27breezy
Nov29windy
Dec30windy

Best time to visit Margate

TravelBeach/poolTemperatureCloudsPrecipitation

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

Around mid September, Margate 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 Margate 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 30 · 6.3

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
Jan1.1poor
Feb0.9poor
Mar1.4poor
Apr2.3poor
May3.6fair
Jun4.9fair
Jul6.0good
Aug6.1good
Sep5.4fair
Oct3.9fair
Nov2.5poor
Dec1.5poor

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

024681012JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecbest timebeach/pool scoretemperaturecloudsprecipitationAug 6 · 2.7

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 Margate, 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 19°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, Margate sees daytime highs around 19°C and nights near 17°C. Worth packing: rain gear, sun protection and a windbreaker. About 10 days see rain.

Sea temperature near Margate

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

The sea offshore is warmest in August at about 18°C and coldest in February near 7°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
Jan8Bracing
Feb7Bracing
Mar7Bracing
Apr9Bracing
May11Bracing
Jun14Bracing
Jul17Cool
Aug18Cool
Sep17Cool
Oct15Cool
Nov13Bracing
Dec10Bracing

UV index (midday) in Margate 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 Margate peaks around June 22 at about 6 (high) — sunscreen and a hat are worth it in the middle of the day. 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.

025710JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecLowModerateHighModerateLowJun 22UV 6Jan 1UV 1
UV index (midday)Level
Jan1Low
Feb1Low
Mar3Moderate
Apr3Moderate
May6High
Jun6High
Jul6High
Aug6High
Sep4Moderate
Oct2Moderate
Nov1Low
Dec1Low

Average hourly UV index in Margate

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 2 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
Apr30
May6.50
Jun7.52
Jul7.52
Aug71.5
Sep40
Oct00
Nov00
Dec00
Almanac & agriculture

Growing season

Chance of a frost-free dayFrost-free year round

Margate 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
Jan990
Feb980
Mar1000
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. Margate banks about 943 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
May52
Jun136
Jul214
Aug237
Sep183
Oct106
Nov14
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.

Margate receives about 3.3 kWh/m² a day of solar energy on average — moderate — with a clear seasonal swing between 0.7 and 6.1 kWh/m².

The brighter stretch of the year lasts 5.9 months, from around Mar 23 to Sep 17. The brightest month is June, averaging about 6.0 kWh/m² (bright).

The dimmest month is December, down near 0.7 kWh/m² — roughly 88% less than the June peak.

01234567JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecdimmerbrighterdimmerdimmoderatebrightintenseJun 256.1 kWhDec 230.7 kWh
Solar energy (kWh/m²)Level
Jan0.8Dim
Feb1.6Dim
Mar3.0Moderate
Apr4.7Bright
May5.7Bright
Jun6.0Bright
Jul5.8Bright
Aug4.9Bright
Sep3.4Moderate
Oct2.0Moderate
Nov1.1Dim
Dec0.7Dim

Where is Margate?

Margate sits at 51.4°N, 1.4°E, 24 m above sea level, in United Kingdom. The nearest listed city is Saint Peters, 3.0 km away.

Topography around Margate

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

Within 3 km, the terrain around Margate has only modest variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 55 m around an average of 21 m above sea level; within 16 km, only modest variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 60 m; within 80 km, significant variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 311 m.

The land around Margate is covered by water (32%), artificial surfaces (25%) and cropland (24%) within 3 km, water (72%) within 16 km, and water (54%) within 80 km.

3 km
55 m
16 km
60 m
80 km
311 m
treesgrasslandcroplandartificial surfacesbare terrainwater
Nearby: Saint Peters 3.0 km · Broadstairs 5.0 km · Ramsgate 6.0 km · Deal 18 km · Herne Bay 18 km · Canterbury 24 km · Whitstable 25 km · Dover 29 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 Margate (51.3813°, 1.3862°, elevation 24 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).