Zurich weather by month & the best time to visit
🇨🇭 Switzerland · city break · oceanic / maritime climate
The best time to visit Zurich is September — its sunniest month (Sunshine Score 65/100), with June and July close behind. Zurich averages about 1,912 hours of sunshine a year. Daytime highs around 19°C / 66°F and roughly 103 mm of rain in September.
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- Sun hours / year
- 1,912
- Sunniest month
- September
- Peak score
- 65/100
- Rain / year
- 1,311 mm
- Snow / year
- ≈1.3 m
- Midday UV at peak
- 6 (high)
- Population
- 1.1M
- Elevation
- 420 m
When is the best time to visit Zurich?
For sunshine, the best time to visit Zurich is September, then June and July. The dullest month is January (0/100, 94 mm of rain). The full month-by-month picture is in the table below.
How sunny is Zurich?
Zurich gets a moderate 1,912 hours of sunshine a year. 65 Sunshine Score points separate September (65) from January (0), so the month you pick matters. It ranks #5 of 5 destinations in Switzerland for annual sunshine, below the national median of 2,055 hours. The year's 1,311 mm of rain spreads fairly evenly across the months, with no pronounced dry season.
Sunshine Score by month
| Month | Score | Day high | Night low | Rain | UV |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 0 | 3° / 37°F | -3° / 27°F | 94 mm | 1 |
| February | 0 | 5° / 41°F | -3° / 27°F | 73 mm | 1 |
| March | 12 | 10° / 50°F | 1° / 34°F | 91 mm | 3 |
| April | 43 | 15° / 59°F | 5° / 41°F | 91 mm | 4 |
| May | 59 | 19° / 66°F | 9° / 48°F | 141 mm | 5 |
| June | 64 | 23° / 73°F | 14° / 57°F | 139 mm | 6 |
| July | 63 | 24° / 75°F | 15° / 59°F | 144 mm | 6 |
| August | 63 | 24° / 75°F | 15° / 59°F | 146 mm | 5 |
| September | 65 | 19° / 66°F | 11° / 52°F | 103 mm | 4 |
| October | 42 | 15° / 59°F | 7° / 45°F | 100 mm | 2 |
| November | 6 | 9° / 48°F | 2° / 36°F | 87 mm | 1 |
| December | 0 | 4° / 39°F | -2° / 28°F | 102 mm | 1 |
See Zurich on the interactive sunshine globe →
Nearby places for sunshine
- Friedrichshafen Germany · 76 km · best in Sep · 1,913 h sun/yr
- Basel France · 79 km · best in Sep · 1,931 h sun/yr
- Bern Switzerland · 100 km · best in Sep · 2,095 h sun/yr
- Strasbourg France · 138 km · best in Sep · 1,800 h sun/yr
- Memmingen Germany · 139 km · best in Jun · 1,906 h sun/yr
- Stuttgart Germany · 146 km · best in Sep · 1,776 h sun/yr
Nearest destinations
- Sankt Gallen Switzerland · 76 km · 1,913 h sun/yr · best in Sep
Head-to-head
How Zurich compares month by month: Zurich vs Basel · Zurich vs Bern · Zurich vs Friedrichshafen · all comparisons
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