Cyprus weather, month by month and area by area

The weather is the first thing I check before choosing dates, and in Cyprus it varies a lot between the coast, the interior and the mountains. I use World Meteorological Organization data for four stations, Larnaca airport, Nicosia, Paphos airport and Prodromos in the Troodos. If you just want to pick a month, go straight to the best time to visit Cyprus.

The coast

Larnaca and Paphos are much alike. In January highs sit around 17-18 °C and lows around 8-9 °C, and in August they reach 33.5 °C in Larnaca and 31 °C in Paphos, with lows above 22 °C. Paphos, on the west coast, is a touch milder in summer and slightly warmer on winter nights. From June to September there’s barely any rain, and the WMO records zero rainy days in August at Paphos.

Inland

Nicosia, in the middle of the island, is the one with the extremes. In July and August the average high climbs to 37.5 °C, and in January the low drops to 5.8 °C. It gets less rain than the coast, 65 mm in January against 102 in Larnaca, but May there is wetter than you’d expect, with 38 mm.

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The mountains

Prodromos, in the Troodos, feels like another island. January’s high is 6.9 °C and its low 1 °C, with 165 mm of rain over 15 days, and in August it doesn’t top 28.9 °C. That’s why you can ski on Mount Olympus in winter, as I explain in Cyprus in winter, and why the mountains are the escape from summer heat. With a gap like that, your bag depends on whether you head up, as I set out in packing list for Cyprus.

The rain

It comes mostly from December to February. January is the wettest month at all four stations, and spring dries out steadily into a summer with hardly a drop. The first proper rain returns in November.

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What I don’t give you

The WMO doesn’t publish monthly sunshine hours or mean temperatures, only highs and lows, and its series runs from 2002 to 2011. The only official sunshine figure I’ve found is more than 300 sunny days a year, from a 2024 government publication. For the sea, month by month with NOAA averages, see Cyprus sea temperature.

Rainy days

More useful than millimetres is counting the days with rain. In Larnaca they drop from 12.4 in January to 1.3 in August, and in Paphos from 12.7 to none at all. At Prodromos it rains on more than half of January’s days, 15.3 on average. So a winter trip always needs an indoor plan, and a summer one the opposite, shade and water.

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How I’d use it

For the beach, June to September, knowing that Cyprus in summer is very hot. For touring the island, spring and autumn. And for the mountains with snow, winter.

For a specific month, start with Cyprus in January, the wettest, or Cyprus in May, the last month of spring, and for the end of the season, Cyprus in autumn.

If you are staying the night, see the best hotel deals in Limassol for your dates: the well-placed rooms go fast.