Fort William climate — normals and trends
Fort William (United Kingdom) has a temperate oceanic climate (Cfb) under the Köppen-Geiger classification. Its mean annual temperature is 6.6 °C and it receives 1,821 mm of precipitation per year.
These figures are normals computed over 86 complete calendar years, from 1940 to 2025, using ERA5 reanalysis data from the Copernicus programme.
The warmest month is July (12.6 °C on average) and the coldest is January (1.2 °C). Rainfall peaks in December.
Fort William averages 82 frost days, 0 hot days (≥ 30 °C) and 217 rainy days per year.
Fort William has warmed by +2.1 °C between 1940 and 2025, or +0.24 °C per decade. This trend is statistically significant.
The number of frost days there went from about 107 to 57 per year over the period.
The hottest day of the period reached 27.9 °C (on 28 June 1995) and the coldest -20.8 °C (on 1 March 1947).
Data from ERA5 reanalysis (Copernicus Climate Change Service), redistributed under a CC-BY 4.0 licence. Normals are recomputed whenever the archive is updated.
Climate normals · ERA5
Fort WilliamScotland
- coords
- 56.82°, -5.11°
- period
- 1940–2025 · 86 yrs
Mean daily temperature
6.6°C
Average daily high
9.4°C
Average daily low
3.8°C
Annual rainfall
1,821mm
Sunshine / day
5.9h
Mean relative humidity
86%
Average peak wind
16.1km/h
Seasonal range
11.4°C
Frost days (< 0 °C)
82 d/yr
Hot days (≥ 30 °C)
0 d/yr
Rainy days (≥ 1 mm)
217 d/yr
Annual snowfall
149.5 cm
Average feels-like high
6.7 °C
Average feels-like low
0.9 °C
Average peak gust
47.8 km/h
Tropical nights (≥ 20 °C)
0 d/yr
Solar radiation
8.1 MJ/m²
Has the climate changed?
One stripe per year, 1940 to 2025
+2.1 °C
since 1940
+0.2 °C per decade · r² = 0.53 · p = < 0.001
Trend fitted by linear regression (ordinary least squares) on annual means. A trend is shown only when it is statistically significant (p < 0.05).
A climograph overlays rainfall (bars) and temperature (line): the standard reading in climatology, where you can see at a glance whether the warm season is also the dry one.
Records for the period
Hottest day
27.9 °C
28 June 1995
Coldest day
-20.8 °C
1 March 1947
Wettest day
70 mm
11 February 1998
Windiest day
50.2 km/h
15 January 1968
Strongest gust
164.9 km/h
8 December 2011
Hottest feels-like
30.3 °C
29 July 1948
Coldest feels-like
-25.4 °C
1 March 1947
Snowiest day
20.5 cm
25 February 2010
Sunniest day
17.0 h
30 June 2018
Normals computed over complete calendar years 1940–2025.
A specific year
Pick a year and see how it compares to normal — warmer, drier or more extreme than usual?
Across the whole year
Month by month
| High | vs. normal | Precipitation | vs. normal | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 4.1 °C | +0.9 °C | 85 mm | -102 mm |
| Feb | 5.8 °C | +2.2 °C | 157 mm | +3 mm |
| Mar | 9.0 °C | +3.3 °C | 109 mm | -41 mm |
| Apr | 13.0 °C | +4.2 °C | 54 mm | -56 mm |
| May | 15.5 °C | +3.3 °C | 116 mm | +2 mm |
| Jun | 15.0 °C | +0.5 °C | 174 mm | +57 mm |
| Jul | 17.5 °C | +1.9 °C | 137 mm | +9 mm |
| Aug | 17.6 °C | +2.2 °C | 134 mm | -10 mm |
| Sep | 13.6 °C | +0.5 °C | 165 mm | -1 mm |
| Oct | 11.0 °C | +1.0 °C | 200 mm | +16 mm |
| Nov | 7.3 °C | +1.1 °C | 208 mm | +41 mm |
| Dec | 6.1 °C | +2.0 °C | 216 mm | +18 mm |
The year's extremes
What was the weather like that day?
Your birthday, a wedding, a memorable trip: discover the actual weather for any date since 1940.
Frequently asked questions
What is the climate of Fort William?
Fort William has a temperate oceanic climate (Köppen Cfb). Over 1940-2025, the average annual temperature is 6.6 °C and it receives 1,821 mm of precipitation per year.
What is the hottest day ever recorded in Fort William?
The hottest day measured in Fort William between 1940 and 2025 was 28 June 1995, reaching 27.9 °C.
What is the coldest day in Fort William?
The coldest day measured in Fort William between 1940 and 2025 was 1 March 1947, at -20.8 °C.
Does it snow in Fort William?
Yes. Fort William gets on average 149.5 cm of snow per year and has around 82 frost days.
Has the climate of Fort William warmed?
Yes: Fort William warmed by +2.1 °C between 1940 and 2025, a statistically significant trend.
What is the wettest day in Fort William?
The wettest day measured in Fort William between 1940 and 2025 was 11 February 1998, with 70 mm of rain in 24 hours.
What was the windiest day in Fort William?
The windiest day measured in Fort William between 1940 and 2025 was 15 January 1968, with winds reaching 50.2 km/h.
What is the warmest month in Fort William?
The warmest month in Fort William is July (12.6 °C on average); the coldest is January (1.2 °C).
How much does it rain in Fort William?
Fort William receives on average 1,821 mm of precipitation per year, spread over about 217 rainy days.
Is it sunny in Fort William?
Fort William gets on average 5.9 hours of sunshine per day, roughly 2,154 hours per year over 1940-2025.
What is the biggest single-day snowfall in Fort William?
The heaviest 24-hour snowfall measured in Fort William between 1940 and 2025 was 25 February 2010, with 20.5 cm.
Are there tropical nights in Fort William?
Almost never: tropical nights (temperature staying above 20 °C) are virtually non-existent in Fort William.
What was the most extreme apparent temperature in Fort William?
In Fort William, between 1940 and 2025, the highest apparent temperature reached 30.3 °C on 29 July 1948, and the lowest was -25.4 °C on 1 March 1947.
Compare Fort William with another city
Pick a second city: its normals will be set against these, indicator by indicator.
Nearby cities
The climate around Fort William