The climate in Bosnia and Herzegovina

Climate zone: Moderate zone of the northern hemisphere

The climate in Bosnia and Herzegovina widely corresponds to the German weather conditions. It is cold, wet and a few beautiful summer months are also happening. A beach holiday can be enjoyed in the warmer season with water temperatures up to 24 degrees. Due to the warmer temperatures the best time for traveling is from June to September. Nearly unattractive for tourists are the cold months from November to March.

› Duration of daylight and sunshine in Bosnia and Herzegovina

Temperature records of the last 65 years

The hottest temperature measured from 1955 to October 2020 was reported by the Mostar weather station. In August 2007 the record temperature of 43.1 °C was reported here. The hottest summer from July to September, based on all 6 weather stations in Bosnia and Herzegovina below 790 metres altitude, was recorded in 2012 with an average temperature of 23.9 °C. This average temperature will normally be measured every 4 to 6 hours, thus also including the nights. Normally, this value is 20.2 degrees Celsius. The average maximum daily temperature at that time was 31.6 °C.

The coldest day in these 65 years was reported by the weather station Sarajevo Bjelave. Here the temperature dropped to -22.2 °C in January 2017. Sarajevo Bjelave lies at an altitude of 632 meters above sea level. The coldest winter (January to March) was in 1981 with an average temperature of -2.2 °C. In Bosnia and Herzegovina, it is usual to have about 6.0 degrees more at 3.9 °C for this three-month period.

Long-term development of temperatures from 1991 - 2019

In contrast to single record values, a long-term development cannot simply be brought about by all weather stations in the country. Both the number and the locations are constantly changing. A simply calculated average value would give a falsified result. If several measuring stations in particularly cold mountain or coastal regions are added in one year, the average would already decrease as a result of this alone. If a station fails during the summer or winter months, it does not provide any values and falsifies the average again. The subsequent long-term development was therefore reduced to only 2 measuring points in order to have actually comparable data over as long a period as possible.

In the years 1991 to 2019 there were only these 2 weather stations in the whole country, which reported continuous temperature values (Mostar, Sarajevo Bjelave). From these weather reports we have created a long-term development that shows the monthly average temperatures. The hottest month in this entire period was 2015 with 26.2 °C. 2012 was the coldest month with an average temperature of -1.7 °C.

The average annual temperature was about 12.6 °C in the years after 1991 and about 13.7 °C in the last years before 2019. So in less than 29 years it has increased by about 1.1 °C. This trend only applies to the selected 2 weather stations in Bosnia and Herzegovina. A considerably more comprehensive evaluation of the global warming has been provided separately.




More detailed information on global warming with a view by continent can also be found on our topic page on climate change. Data basis: German Weather Service, individual values averaged and supplemented by own elements.