Data sources

Last updated Nov 1, 2026

• Forecasts and recent weather: Open-Meteo (CC BY 4.0)
• Monthly climate normals: NASA POWER, NASA Langley Research Center
• Place names and coordinates: GeoNames (CC BY 4.0) and Wikidata (CC0)
• World map: Natural Earth (public domain)
• Reference sky footage (where no camera is connected): Mixkit, free license

Forecasts are model estimates and can be wrong. Best-time-to-visit ratings are based on weather only.

How we rate the best time to visit

Every place gets a weather score from 0 to 100 for each month, worked out from its long-term monthly averages (NASA POWER, satellite and reanalysis data). We start at 100 and take points off for:

• Rain: 1 point per 6 mm of monthly rain, up to 50 points.
• Cold: 3 points per degree that the average high falls below 20°C (68°F).
• Heat: 4 points per degree that the average high rises above 31°C (88°F). Cold and heat together cost at most 40 points.
• Cloud: 0.2 points per percent of cloud cover.

We then compare the months of the same place with each other. The top third of its score range is marked “best” (peak), the bottom third “least pleasant” (off), and the rest “fair”. If the scores differ by less than 12 points over the year, every month is fair. The rating does not take into account prices, crowds, school holidays or local events.

Average highs and lows are the monthly mean temperature plus or minus half the average daily range. Rainfall is the bias-corrected daily mean multiplied by the days in the month.