Lerwick Temperature by Month
Lerwick, United Kingdom has a consistently chilly climate year-round, with daytime highs averaging 11°C (52°F). Below you'll find a full monthly breakdown and a comparison with cities worldwide.
Lerwick Monthly Temperatures
The temperature in Lerwick remains steady throughout the year, providing a consistently moderate climate. Maximum daytime temperatures range from a moderate 15°C (59°F) in August to a chilly 8°C (46°F) in February. Nights are mild year-round, with lows ranging from 12°C (54°F) in August to 5°C (41°F) in February.
The chart below illustrates the average maximum day and minimum night temperatures in Lerwick by month:
Temperatures tend to bottom out between 4 AM and 6 AM, then climb to their daily peak around 3 PM. August, the warmest month, sees 128 hours of sunshine.
The chart below shows the average temperature throughout the year:
Temperature: Lerwick vs the United Kingdom
The map below shows the annual temperature across the United Kingdom. You can also select individual months if you want to compare a specific time of year.
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Lerwick vs World: Temperature Compared
Lerwick's average annual maximum temperature is 11°C (52°F). To put that in context, here's how it compares to a few well-known destinations:
Lisbon, Portugal averages 21°C (70°F) annually — warm summers, mild winters, and rain mainly in the cooler months.
Zermatt, Switzerland averages just 4°C (39°F) annually due to its altitude, with very cold winters and cool summers even at its warmest.
Shanghai, China averages 21°C (70°F) a year, with warm summers, mild winters, and a noticeable spring and autumn.
Tokyo, Japan averages 21°C (70°F) a year, with hot summers, cool winters, and a well-defined cherry blossom spring.
Climate temperature data is typically calculated as a 30-year average. This smooths out year-to-year variability and gives a more reliable picture of what a place is actually like, rather than what happened in any single unusual year.
The readings come from a range of sources — land-based weather stations, ocean buoys, ships, and satellites. That data is collected by weather services around the world, then pooled, quality-checked, and averaged to produce the climate records you see here.
Whether a city sits on the coast or deep inland makes a significant difference to its climate. Coastal areas tend to have more stable temperatures year-round — large bodies of water absorb heat slowly in summer and release it gradually in winter, keeping extremes in check. Cities far from the sea don't benefit from that buffer, which is why continental climates tend to have hotter summers and colder winters than their coastal counterparts at the same latitude.
For more on Lerwick's weather — including monthly rainfall, sunshine hours, and humidity — visit our Lerwick climate page.
