The climate in Poland

Climate zone: Moderate zone of the northern hemisphere

The climate in Poland is quite varied, but generally does not offer extreme climate conditions. It is cold and wet with some nice summer months. It rarely gets really warm up here. The warmest and rainiest part of the country is Lubusz. The coldest is Warmia-Masuria. Due to the warmer temperatures, the best time for traveling is from May to September. Less attractive are the cold months from November to March.

Temperature records of the last 71 years

The hottest temperature measured from 1951 to September 2022 was reported by the Warsaw Airport weather station. In July 2022, the record temperature of 37.4 °C was reported here. The hottest summer from July to September, based on all 25 weather stations in Poland below 700 meters altitude, was recorded in 2018 with an average temperature of 18.7 °C. This average temperature will normally be measured every four to six hours, thus also including the nights. Normally, this value is 16.4 degrees Celsius. The average maximum daily temperature at that time was 24.3 °C.

The coldest day in these 71 years was reported by the Bialystok weather station. Here the temperature dropped to -25.4 °C in January 2021. Bialystok lies at an altitude of 150 meters above sea level. The coldest winter (January to March) was in 1963 with an average temperature of -6.3 °C. In Poland, it is usual to have about 6.0 degrees more at -0.4 °C for this three-month period.

The most precipitation fell in August 1977. With 17.8 mm per day, the Klodzko weather station recorded the highest monthly average of the last 71 years. Incidentally, the region with the most rainfall for the whole year is around Elblag Milejewo. The driest region is near Poznan.

Long-term development of temperatures from 1954 - 2021

In contrast to single record values, long-term development cannot simply be brought about by all weather stations in the country. Both the number and the locations are constantly changing. An average value would give a distorted result. If several measuring stations in particularly cold mountain or coastal regions are added in one year, the average would decrease as a result of this alone. If a station fails during the summer or winter months, it does not provide any values and distorts the average again. The subsequent long-term development was therefore reduced to only 3 measuring points in order to have comparable data over as long a period as possible.

In the years 1954 to 2021, there were only these 3 weather stations in the whole country, which reported continuous temperature values (Bialystok, Warsaw, Poznan). 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 July 2006 at 22.8 °C. January 1987 was the coldest month with an average temperature of -12.3 °C.

The average annual temperature was about 7.2 °C in the years after 1954 and about 9.6 °C in the last years before 2021. So in less than 68 years, it has increased by about 2.5 °C. This trend only applies to the selected 3 weather stations in Poland. A considerably more comprehensive evaluation of global warming has been provided separately.

Data basis and methodology

The data from the individual measuring stations are based on the archives of the German Weather Service, individual values averaged and supplemented by own elements. In order to determine a representative national average, average values were first calculated for each part of the country, which were then summarized at the national level. Thus, if a disproportionate number of weather stations are located in a small area, their number does not affect the national average. There are 25 stations in Poland itself. In 18 cases, neighboring but nearby weather stations were also used to obtain more accurate values.