Where is hot in May
Where is hot in May near home: Marrakech (30 °C), Seville (28 °C), Larnaca and Ayia Napa (27 °C) and Sicily (27 °C). It is the month the Mediterranean overtakes the Canaries.
May, averages 1991 to 2020
42 of 62 places match
| Place | High | Sea | Wet days |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dubai | 38 °C | 29 °C | 0 |
| Bangkok | 35 °C | inland | 13 |
| Hurghada | 34 °C | 25 °C | 0 |
| Goa | 34 °C | 30 °C | n/a |
| Cancun | 34 °C | 28 °C | 5 |
| Phuket | 33 °C | 30 °C | 18 |
| Koh Samui | 33 °C | 30 °C | 10 |
| Maldives | 32 °C | 30 °C | n/a |
Typical month, not a forecast. "n/a": the station has no usable rain record for that month, so it never counts as a pass. How the figures are made.
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May is the first real Mediterranean month of the year. The daytime high reaches 23 to 27 °C across the holiday coast: 27 °C in Cyprus, 26 °C in Antalya, 24 °C in Crete and 23 °C in Majorca. Rain is scarce, 2 days in Heraklion. The Canaries, at 25 °C in Lanzarote, are no longer the warmest choice, though they stay the driest. The one thing May does not deliver is warm water. The Mediterranean is still cool, 18 °C off Majorca and 19 °C off Crete; the warmest sea in the region is off Antalya, 21 °C. Long haul, May is a month of change: the Gulf becomes very hot, 38 °C in Dubai, the Red Sea reaches 34 °C, and in Thailand the south-west monsoon arrives, with 18 days of rain in Phuket. The Caribbean is still fairly dry, with 5 days of rain in Cancun.
Where is hot in May: the ranking
| Place | Country | Daytime high | Night low | Sea | Wet days | From London |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dubai | United Arab Emirates | 38 °C | 26 °C | 29 °C | 0 days | 5,500 km |
| Bangkok | Thailand | 35 °C | 27 °C | inland | 13 days | 9,560 km |
| Goa | India | 34 °C | 26 °C | 30 °C | no usable record | 7,580 km |
| Hurghada | Egypt | 34 °C | 23 °C | 25 °C | 0 days | 3,930 km |
| Cancun | Mexico | 34 °C | 24 °C | 28 °C | 5 days | 7,940 km |
| Koh Samui | Thailand | 33 °C | 26 °C | 30 °C | 10 days | 9,900 km |
| Phuket | Thailand | 33 °C | 24 °C | 30 °C | 18 days | 9,930 km |
| Jamaica | Jamaica | 32 °C | 24 °C | 28 °C | 11 days | 7,550 km |
| Maldives | Maldives | 32 °C | no usable record | 30 °C | no usable record | 8,540 km |
| Sri Lanka | Sri Lanka | 32 °C | 26 °C | 29 °C | 16 days | 8,740 km |
| Las Vegas | United States | 32 °C | 19 °C | inland | 1 day | 8,400 km |
| Orlando | United States | 31 °C | 19 °C | inland | 7 days | 6,970 km |
| Punta Cana | Dominican Republic | 31 °C | 23 °C | 27 °C | no usable record | 6,880 km |
| Seychelles | Seychelles | 31 °C | 26 °C | 29 °C | 13 days | 8,180 km |
| Barbados | Barbados | 31 °C | 25 °C | 28 °C | no usable record | 6,760 km |
| Bali | Indonesia | 31 °C | 25 °C | 28 °C | no usable record | 12,520 km |
| Miami | United States | 31 °C | 23 °C | 27 °C | 9 days | 7,110 km |
| Cuba | Cuba | 31 °C | 22 °C | 27 °C | no usable record | 7,470 km |
| Marrakech | Morocco | 30 °C | 15 °C | inland | 1 day | 2,290 km |
| Seville | Spain | 28 °C | 15 °C | inland | 4 days | 1,630 km |
| Mauritius | Mauritius | 27 °C | 21 °C | 26 °C | 14 days | 9,780 km |
| Larnaca and Ayia Napa | Cyprus | 27 °C | 16 °C | 20 °C | 1 day | 3,270 km |
| Sicily | Italy | 27 °C | 12 °C | 18 °C | 3 days | 1,980 km |
| Cape Verde | Cape Verde | 27 °C | 20 °C | 23 °C | no usable record | 4,340 km |
| Tunisia | Tunisia | 27 °C | 15 °C | 18 °C | 4 days | 1,840 km |
| Antalya | Turkey | 26 °C | 15 °C | 21 °C | 3 days | 2,930 km |
| Lanzarote | Spain | 25 °C | 18 °C | 20 °C | 0 days | 2,730 km |
| Athens | Greece | 25 °C | 16 °C | 19 °C | 2 days | 2,410 km |
| Fuerteventura | Spain | 25 °C | 18 °C | 20 °C | 0 days | 2,800 km |
| Malaga and the Costa del Sol | Spain | 25 °C | 15 °C | 18 °C | 3 days | 1,670 km |
| Benidorm | Spain | 25 °C | 15 °C | 18 °C | 3 days | 1,440 km |
| Corfu | Greece | 25 °C | 15 °C | 19 °C | 4 days | 2,050 km |
| Venice | Italy | 24 °C | 13 °C | 18 °C | 10 days | 1,160 km |
| Tenerife | Spain | 24 °C | 17 °C | 20 °C | 0 days | 2,940 km |
| Malta | Malta | 24 °C | 15 °C | 19 °C | 1 day | 2,100 km |
| Sardinia | Italy | 24 °C | 13 °C | 18 °C | 4 days | 1,550 km |
| Naples and the Amalfi Coast | Italy | 24 °C | 11 °C | 19 °C | 5 days | 1,630 km |
| Lake Garda | Italy | 24 °C | 13 °C | inland | 7 days | 1,050 km |
| Gran Canaria | Spain | 24 °C | 18 °C | 20 °C | 1 day | 2,920 km |
| Rhodes | Greece | 24 °C | 18 °C | 20 °C | no usable record | 2,810 km |
| Crete | Greece | 24 °C | 16 °C | 19 °C | 2 days | 2,710 km |
| Los Angeles | United States | 24 °C | 15 °C | 17 °C | 1 day | 8,750 km |
| Algarve | Portugal | 23 °C | 14 °C | 18 °C | no usable record | 1,710 km |
| Split | Croatia | 23 °C | 16 °C | 18 °C | 6 days | 1,540 km |
| Costa Brava | Spain | 23 °C | 10 °C | 16 °C | 7 days | 1,090 km |
| Rome | Italy | 23 °C | 13 °C | inland | 6 days | 1,450 km |
| Ibiza | Spain | 23 °C | 15 °C | 18 °C | 3 days | 1,400 km |
| Majorca | Spain | 23 °C | 16 °C | 18 °C | 3 days | 1,350 km |
| Dubrovnik | Croatia | 23 °C | 16 °C | 19 °C | 7 days | 1,710 km |
| Lisbon | Portugal | 23 °C | 14 °C | 16 °C | 6 days | 1,570 km |
| Menorca | Spain | 22 °C | 14 °C | 18 °C | 4 days | 1,340 km |
| New York | United States | 22 °C | 13 °C | 13 °C | 10 days | 5,540 km |
| Barcelona | Spain | 22 °C | 14 °C | 17 °C | 5 days | 1,140 km |
| Madeira | Portugal | 22 °C | 16 °C | 19 °C | no usable record | 2,480 km |
| Istanbul | Turkey | 21 °C | 13 °C | 16 °C | no usable record | 2,520 km |
| Cape Town | South Africa | 21 °C | 9 °C | 16 °C | no usable record | 9,680 km |
| Nice and the French Riviera | France | 21 °C | 15 °C | 18 °C | 5 days | 1,040 km |
| Sydney | Australia | 21 °C | 12 °C | 21 °C | 8 days | 17,020 km |
| Paris | France | 21 °C | 11 °C | inland | 9 days | 350 km |
| Porto | Portugal | 20 °C | 12 °C | 16 °C | 9 days | 1,310 km |
| Lapland | Finland | 12 °C | 1 °C | inland | 8 days | 2,220 km |
| Reykjavik | Iceland | 10 °C | 4 °C | 7 °C | 13 days | 1,880 km |
May half-term in the Mediterranean
For the late-May half-term, the east of the Mediterranean is the warmest: Cyprus at 27 °C and Turkey at 26 °C, with 1 day and 3 days of rain. Greece follows, Crete at 24 °C and Rhodes at 24 °C. In the west, Majorca and Ibiza sit at 23 °C, pleasant but not yet hot, and Malta at 24 °C.
Too hot already, or too wet
Dubai averages 38 °C in May, with nights of 26 °C: fine for a pool hotel, hard for sightseeing. In Phuket the wet season begins. The Caribbean is a good long-haul choice: Cancun averages 34 °C with 5 days of rain. Previous month: where is hot in April; next: June.