Climate and average weather in Rhondda

In Rhondda, the summers are mild, showery, and mostly cloudy and the winters are cold, snowy, and mostly cloudy.

Best: early June to late September

Over the course of the year, the temperature in Rhondda typically varies from 2°C to 19°C, and is rarely below -3°C or above 23°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 Rhondda for warm-weather activities is from early June to late September.

Hottest
Jul
19°
Coldest
Jan
Wettest
Dec
121 mm
Driest
Mar
80 mm
Rain / yr
1158 mm
164 wet days
Daylight
7.6–16.4 h
shortest–longest
Elevation
256 m
51.7°N
Clearest
Apr
71% cloud

Rhondda 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 early June to late September.

Temperature through the year

Average highAverage lowShaded bands: 10–90% of days

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

The hot season lasts 3.7 months, from May 31 to September 20, with daily high temperatures above 16°C. The hottest month of the year in Rhondda is July, with an average high of 19°C and low of 12°C.

The cool season lasts 3.8 months, from November 20 to March 15, with daily high temperatures below 9°C. The coldest month of the year in Rhondda is January, with an average low of 2°C and high of 6°C.

Days typically run about 6°C warmer than nights year-round.

-5°10°15°20°25°JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Avg high (°C)Avg low (°C)
Jan62
Feb72
Mar93
Apr114
May147
Jun1710
Jul1912
Aug1812
Sep1610
Oct137
Nov95
Dec73

How hot and cold Rhondda 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 30), with roughly 127 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
Feb77-22
Mar99-13
Apr111114
May141457
Jun1717910
Jul19191212
Aug18181212
Sep1616810
Oct131357
Nov9915
Dec77-13

Average hourly temperature in Rhondda

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

Rhondda 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 / 11215.31.78.10.6
Feb / 87121.89.60.7
Mar / 8013.31.311.51.5
Apr11° / 8113.20.513.62.6
May14° / 9014.2015.33.7
Jun17° / 10°8712.9016.34.8
Jul19° / 12°8914.3015.95.3
Aug18° / 12°9513.5014.45.3
Sep16° / 10°8311.7012.44.7
Oct13° / 12014.30.110.43.1
Nov / 11415.20.68.61.7
Dec / 12114.21.57.70.8

Chance of rain

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

Rhondda gets about 1158 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 3.3 months, from around Oct 19 to Jan 25, peaking in November at about 54% chance on a given day. The drier stretch runs the rest of the year, bottoming out around Sep 5.

December is the wettest month by volume, with 121 mm over about 14 wet days; March is the driest, with 80 mm. Some of the cold-season precipitation falls as snow.

0%10%20%30%40%50%60%70%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecwetterdrierwettermostly drysome rainoften wetvery wetNov 4 · 54%Sep 5 · 37%
Rain on a day (%)Rain days
Jan4915
Feb4312
Mar4313
Apr4313
May4714
Jun4413
Jul4514
Aug4414
Sep3912
Oct4614
Nov5015
Dec4714

Monthly rainfall

Over a full year, Rhondda collects about 1158 mm of rain across 164 wet days — roughly 96 mm in an average month.

It doesn’t fall evenly. December is the wettest month with 121 mm, while March is the driest at just 80 mm. The three wettest months alone bring about 31% of the year’s total, and some of the cold-season precipitation falls as snow.

0255075100125150JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec1128780819087899583120114121
Rainfall (mm)Rain daysSnow days
Jan112152
Feb87122
Mar80131
Apr81131
May90140
Jun87130
Jul89140
Aug95140
Sep83120
Oct120140
Nov114151
Dec121142

Snow in Rhondda

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.

Rhondda averages about 7 snowy days a year. Snow season runs roughly Nov 12 to Apr 14 — about 5.1 months.

February is snowiest, with roughly 1.9 days of snow and an estimated 7 cm of snowfall. Over the year that adds up to an estimated 32 cm of snow.

01234JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecsnow seasonsnow seasonFeb 3
Snow daysSnowfall (cm)
Jan27
Feb27
Mar17
Apr11
May00
Jun00
Jul00
Aug00
Sep00
Oct00
Nov13
Dec26

Clouds and sunshine

ClearMostly clearPartly cloudyMostly cloudyOvercast

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

In Rhondda, 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 June 23 and lasts for 3.0 months, ending around September 20. The clearest month is April, when the sky is clear, mostly clear, or partly cloudy 31% of the time on average.

The cloudier part of the year begins around December 8 and lasts for 3.4 months, ending around March 19. The cloudiest month is December, 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%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecJul 21 · 32%Dec 22 · 21%mostly clearpartly cloudymostly cloudyovercastcloudierclearercloudier
Clearer (%)Cloudier (%)
Jan2575
Feb2575
Mar2674
Apr3169
May2773
Jun2674
Jul3070
Aug2872
Sep2773
Oct2476
Nov2476
Dec2377

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 13, brings about 16 h 24 min of light; the shortest, around December 13, 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)
Jan8.18:214:25
Feb9.67:405:17
Mar11.56:386:09
Apr13.65:267:02
May15.34:297:52
Jun16.34:028:26
Jul15.94:208:19
Aug14.45:057:31
Sep12.45:566:20
Oct10.46:485:10
Nov8.67:434:15
Dec7.78:223:58

Sunny days

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

Rhondda gets about 4 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.

0510JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecgloomymixedApr 175 daysOct 53 days
Sunny daysSky
Jan4Gloomy
Feb3Gloomy
Mar4Gloomy
Apr4Gloomy
May4Gloomy
Jun3Gloomy
Jul4Gloomy
Aug4Gloomy
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 Rhondda, 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
May9730
Jun86131
Jul63334
Aug61335
Sep82171
Oct9550
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 Rhondda is typically light breeze, near 15 km/h, and varies little with the seasons.

The windier part of the year lasts 5.8 months, from around Oct 6 to Mar 31. The windiest month is January, averaging about 17 km/h (light breeze).

The calmer part of the year runs from around Apr 1 to Oct 5, with July the calmest month at about 13 km/h.

0510152025JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecwindiercalmerwindiercalmlight breezebreezyJan 7 · 17 km/hJul 29 · 13 km/h
Wind speed (km/h)Feels
Jan17light breeze
Feb16light breeze
Mar16light breeze
Apr14light breeze
May14light breeze
Jun13light breeze
Jul13light breeze
Aug13light breeze
Sep14light breeze
Oct15light breeze
Nov16light breeze
Dec16light breeze

Best time to visit Rhondda

TravelBeach/poolTemperatureCloudsPrecipitation

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

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

0246810JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecbest timetravel scoretemperaturecloudsprecipitationJul 21 · 5.5

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
Jan0.6poor
Feb0.7poor
Mar1.5poor
Apr2.6poor
May3.7fair
Jun4.8fair
Jul5.3fair
Aug5.3fair
Sep4.7fair
Oct3.1poor
Nov1.7poor
Dec0.8poor

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

024681012JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecbest timebeach/pool scoretemperaturecloudsprecipitationJul 27 · 2.3

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 Rhondda, 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, Rhondda sees daytime highs around 19°C and nights near 12°C. Pack rain gear. Worth having: sun protection. About 14 days see rain.

Sea temperature near Rhondda

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 30 km away) is warmest in August at about 18°C and coldest in February near 8°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
Feb8Bracing
Mar8Bracing
Apr9Bracing
May11Bracing
Jun14Bracing
Jul16Cool
Aug18Cool
Sep17Cool
Oct15Cool
Nov12Bracing
Dec10Bracing

UV index (midday) in Rhondda 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 Rhondda peaks around August 13 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.

025710JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecLowModerateHighModerateLowAug 13UV 6Jan 1UV 1
UV index (midday)Level
Jan1Low
Feb1Low
Mar3Moderate
Apr4Moderate
May6High
Jun6High
Jul6High
Aug7High
Sep4Moderate
Oct2Moderate
Nov1Low
Dec1Low

Average hourly UV index in Rhondda

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 7 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
Apr4.50
May6.50
Jun7.50
Jul70
Aug72
Sep4.50
Oct00
Nov00
Dec00
Almanac & agriculture

Growing season

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

Rhondda is mild enough that a frost-free day stays more likely than not even in midwinter. Nights are reliably above freezing from about April 4 to November 13 (224 days); outside that window a hard frost is an occasional risk.

0%25%50%75%100%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecreliably frost-freeApr 490%Nov 1390%
Frost-free chance (%)Frost nights
Jan7231
Feb7228
Mar8431
Apr9412
May990
Jun1000
Jul1000
Aug1000
Sep1000
Oct980
Nov8919
Dec7531

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. Rhondda banks about 543 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
May26
Jun101
Jul159
Aug155
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.

Rhondda receives about 3.0 kWh/m² a day of solar energy on average — moderate — with a clear seasonal swing between 0.6 and 5.4 kWh/m².

The brighter stretch of the year lasts 5.9 months, from around Mar 23 to Sep 18. The brightest month is June, averaging about 5.4 kWh/m² (bright).

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

01234567JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecdimmerbrighterdimmerdimmoderatebrightintenseJun 225.4 kWhDec 220.6 kWh
Solar energy (kWh/m²)Level
Jan0.8Dim
Feb1.5Dim
Mar2.7Moderate
Apr4.2Bright
May5.1Bright
Jun5.4Bright
Jul5.1Bright
Aug4.3Bright
Sep3.1Moderate
Oct1.8Dim
Nov1.0Dim
Dec0.6Dim

Where is Rhondda?

Rhondda sits at 51.7°N, 3.4°W, 256 m above sea level, in United Kingdom. The nearest listed city is Tonypandy, 4.0 km away.

Topography around Rhondda

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

Within 3 km, the terrain around Rhondda has significant variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 351 m around an average of 314 m above sea level; within 16 km, significant variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 582 m; within 80 km, large variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 864 m.

The land around Rhondda is covered by trees (57%) and grassland (34%) within 3 km, grassland (50%) and trees (41%) within 16 km, and grassland (51%) and water (21%) within 80 km.

3 km
351 m
16 km
582 m
80 km
864 m
treesgrasslandcroplandartificial surfaceswater
Nearby: Tonypandy 4.0 km · Aberdare 6.0 km · Pontypridd 10 km · Merthyr Tydfil 11 km · Gelligaer 13 km · Maesteg 15 km · Blackwood 17 km · Coity 17 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 Rhondda (51.659°, -3.4489°, elevation 256 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).