Cyprus Weather by Month: Is It Warm in Winter?

What is the weather like in Cyprus by month in winter?

Cyprus is a mild-winter island, but the mildness is in the daytime. The point we hold is the one on our Cyprus destination page, which sits nearest to Limassol on the south coast. Here is its year, with the winter months in the middle:

Cyprus: Average high and low temperature, °C

Cyprus: Rainfall, mm

Averages 2015-2025 · Source: Open-Meteo, CHIRPS · How we measure

Read the rain line first: the rain sits in the winter months and the summer is almost dry. November is the warmest month of the cool half-year, with a 23° high and a 15° low. Then it drops to 18° in December, 16° in January and 17° in February, and recovers to 19° in March. Nights are the cold part: in January and February the low is about 9°, outside and near the sea, and a stone flat with no heating will feel colder than that.

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When is the rainy season in Cyprus, and which month is driest?

The rainy season is the winter, and December and January are its wettest months. December has 111 mm on about 7 of 31 days, the most of any month from November to March, and January has 90 mm on about 8 days. A rainy day here is a day with at least two millimetres of rain, so it is real rain, not a few drops.

It dries quickly after that. February has 62 mm on about 5 days, and March has 43 mm on about 4, the driest of the five. November, at 52 mm and about 4 days, is also drier than people expect. If you are choosing a month by rain, pick March, then November, then February. Cloud follows the same pattern, at 35 percent in November, 43 to 44 in December and January and 37 in March. We hold no sunshine-hours figure, so we quote none.

Cyprus, Málaga, Madeira or the Canaries: which is warmest in winter?

These are the four places a remote worker usually weighs for a European winter base. December, January and February side by side:

By day, the Canary Islands (our point is Las Palmas on Gran Canaria) are warmest, at 20° to 21°. Madeira (a point on the Funchal coast) comes next at 18° to 20°. Cyprus and Málaga are close together at 16° to 18°: level in December, with Málaga a degree warmer in January.

By night the order changes. Cyprus and Málaga have 9° to 11°, Madeira 14° to 15° and the Canaries 14° to 16°. The Atlantic islands hold their night warmth, and the two Mediterranean places do not.

The driest by far is the Canary Islands, with 15 to 29 mm a month. Málaga is next, with 39 to 59 mm. Madeira has 67 to 82 mm, and Cyprus 62 to 111 mm, so Cyprus is the wettest of the four in December and January. For the wider list see warmest places in Europe in winter; the detailed pages are Málaga in winter and Madeira vs the Canary Islands in winter.

Which months should you pick for a month-long stay in Cyprus?

• November: the best weather of the cool half-year, with about 4 rainy days. Good for a month.
• December: the wettest month. Skip it if rain bothers you.
• January: the coldest, and wet. The weakest Cyprus month, and the one where Málaga or the Canaries are plainly better.
• February: a reasonable month, drier than the two before it.
• March: the best for dry days after November. Likely your answer if you want Cyprus and are flexible on dates.

Booking Cyprus for the middle of winter on the strength of "Mediterranean sun" is the common mistake. The island's best winter weather comes at the two ends of the season.

How cold are the flats and the nights?

Colder than the daytime number suggests. Humidity is 70 percent in December and January and 67 in February, and many Cypriot flats are built for summer, with tile floors, thin heating and no insulation. Ask how the flat is heated before you pay a deposit (this is advice, not data from our tables). Madeira has warmer nights but more damp, at about 78 to 81 percent in these months. In the Canaries, a 14° night needs a blanket rather than a heater.

Should you choose Cyprus for the winter?

If you want to be in the EU, close to the eastern Mediterranean and out of the northern cold, and you can arrive in February or March, yes. November is also strong. If your priority is warm, dry days from December to January, the Canary Islands are clearly better in our data, and Málaga is drier with a similar high. This page is weather only: look separately at rent, internet and how the island's towns are served by flights.