Crete weather by month
Crete weather by month gives a long beach season: 24 °C by day in May, 29 °C in July, 24 °C in October, and a sea at 25 °C in September.
Crete in November, daytime high
20 °C
| Night low | 14 °C |
| Sea surface | 20 °C |
| Rain in the month | 65 mm |
| Days with 1 mm or more | 6 days |
| Daylight | 10 h 12 min |
| October, daytime high | 24 °C |
| December, daytime high | 17 °C |
Averages 1991 to 2020 at Heraklion. A typical month, not a forecast. Method.
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Crete is the largest Greek island and the most southerly of the big holiday islands of the Aegean. Our figures come from Heraklion, on the north coast, where most visitors land, averaged over 1991 to 2020. The summer is long and almost completely dry: from June to August Heraklion records 0 days, 0 days and 0 days of rain a month. July and August reach 29 °C by day, tempered on the north coast by the summer north wind, the meltemi. The sea warms late and cools late, 23 °C in June, 25 °C in August and still 23 °C in October, which is why autumn weeks in Crete are popular with swimmers. Winters are mild but wet and grey, with 91 mm of rain in January over about 11 days.
Crete weather by month at Heraklion
| Month | Daytime high | Night low | Sea | Rain | Wet days | Daylight |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 16 °C | 9 °C | 16 °C | 91 mm | 11 days | 10 h 00 min |
| February | 16 °C | 9 °C | 16 °C | 69 mm | 8 days | 10 h 54 min |
| March | 17 °C | 10 °C | 16 °C | 48 mm | 6 days | 11 h 54 min |
| April | 20 °C | 12 °C | 17 °C | 22 mm | 4 days | 13 h 00 min |
| May | 24 °C | 16 °C | 19 °C | 12 mm | 2 days | 14 h 00 min |
| June | 28 °C | 20 °C | 23 °C | 2 mm | 0 days | 14 h 30 min |
| July | 29 °C | 23 °C | 25 °C | 1 mm | 0 days | 14 h 18 min |
| August | 29 °C | 23 °C | 25 °C | 2 mm | 0 days | 13 h 30 min |
| September | 27 °C | 20 °C | 25 °C | 12 mm | 1 day | 12 h 18 min |
| October | 24 °C | 17 °C | 23 °C | 50 mm | 4 days | 11 h 12 min |
| November | 20 °C | 14 °C | 20 °C | 65 mm | 6 days | 10 h 12 min |
| December | 17 °C | 11 °C | 18 °C | 91 mm | 10 days | 9 h 48 min |
Crete in May and in October
The two shoulder months are close mirror images in the air, 24 °C in May against 24 °C in October, but not in the water: the sea is 19 °C in May and 23 °C in October, because it takes all summer to warm. May is the drier of the two, with 2 days of rain against 4 days. For a swim-first holiday choose October; for walking the gorges in green landscape, May.
Best time to visit Crete
A daytime high of 24 °C or more with a sea of 22 °C or more: June to October. The south coast, facing Africa, has no long public record in the data we use, so the table stays on the north coast, where the main resorts and the airport are. Compared with Rhodes, Crete has slightly cooler nights; Cyprus is hotter in midsummer.