The climate in Ukraine

Climate zone: Moderate zone of the northern hemisphere

The climate in Ukraine is varied and offers seasons with cold winters and warm summers. It rarely gets really warm up here. The warmest and also rainiest greaster region is South. The coldest is Western. Due to the warmer temperatures, the best time for traveling is from May to September. Winter athletes will find their favorite weather conditions from December to February.

Temperature records of the last 69 years

The hottest temperature measured from 1954 to January 2023 was reported by the Luhansk weather station. In August 2010, the record temperature of 42.0 °C was reported here. The hottest summer from July to September, based on all 37 weather stations in Ukraine below 1,180 meters altitude, was recorded in 2010 with an average temperature of 21.0 °C. This average temperature will normally be measured every four to six hours, thus also including the nights. Normally, this value is 19.2 degrees Celsius. The average maximum daily temperature at that time was 27.2 °C.

The coldest day in these 69 years was reported by the Luhansk weather station. Here the temperature dropped to -30.9 °C in January 2006. Luhansk lies at an altitude of 62 meters above sea level. The coldest winter (January to March) was in 1954 with an average temperature of -7.8 °C. In Ukraine, it is usual to have about 7.1 degrees more at -0.7 °C for this three-month period.

The most precipitation fell in July 1991. With 10.4 mm per day, the Chernivtsi weather station recorded the highest monthly average of the last 69 years. Incidentally, the region with the most rainfall for the whole year is around Lviv. The driest region is near Heniches'k.

Long-term development of temperatures from 1981 - 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 4 measuring points in order to have comparable data over as long a period as possible.

In the years 1981 to 2021, there were only these 4 weather stations in the whole country, which reported continuous temperature values (Simferopol, Kharkiv, Odesa, Kiev). 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 August 2010 at 25.7 °C. February 1985 was the coldest month with an average temperature of -10.7 °C.

The average annual temperature was about 9.0 °C in the years after 1981 and about 11.1 °C in the last years before 2021. So in less than 41 years, it has increased by about 2.1 °C. This trend only applies to the selected 4 weather stations in Ukraine. 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 38 stations in Ukraine itself. In 23 cases, neighboring but nearby weather stations were also used to obtain more accurate values.