Berlin or London: which climate?

Berlin (Germany) has a warm-summer humid continental climate, whereas London (United Kingdom) has a temperate oceanic climate, according to the Köppen-Geiger classification.

The values compared here are normals computed over 86 complete calendar years, from 1940 to 2025, using ERA5 reanalysis data from the Copernicus programme. The same method and the same period apply to Berlin and to London.

London is warmer than Berlin by 1.0 °C in annual average: 10.2 °C against 9.2 °C.

Berlin and London receive comparable annual rainfall, on the order of 606 mm.

Berlin has warmed by +2.4 °C between 1940 and 2025, against +1.8 °C in London. Berlin is therefore warming faster than London. Both trends are statistically significant.

Berlin averages 6 hot days (≥ 30 °C) and 75 frost days per year; London averages 1 and 36.

Data from ERA5 reanalysis (Copernicus Climate Change Service), redistributed under a CC-BY 4.0 licence. Normals are recomputed whenever the archive is updated.

IndicatorBerlinLondonDifference
Mean daily temperature9.2 °C10.2 °C+1.0 °C
Average daily high12.7 °C13.4 °C+0.7 °C
Average daily low5.8 °C6.9 °C+1.1 °C
Annual rainfall606 mm615 mmnegligible
Sunshine / day7.5 h7.5 hnegligible
Hot days (≥ 30 °C)6 d/yr1 d/yr-5 d/yr
Frost days (< 0 °C)75 d/yr36 d/yr-39 d/yr
Rainy days (≥ 1 mm)127 d/yr123 d/yrnegligible
Mean relative humidity77 %80 %+3 %
Average peak wind17.7 km/h20.4 km/hnegligible

A difference is only reported when it exceeds the resolution of the data. ERA5 is a reanalysis on a grid of about 31 km: two nearby cities often fall in the same cell, and below half a degree you are reading the grid, not the climate.

Temperature month by month

Rainfall month by month

Berlin climateLondon climate