At a glance
Quietest month in France: November. Busiest: August, with about 4.9 times as many tourist nights as November. In Lille, July and August are warmest (average high 23.7 °C) and November wettest (75 mm of rain).
- January: 4.3%, quieter than average
- February: 4.7%, quieter than average
- March: 5.0%, quieter than average
- April: 7.6%, quieter than average
- May: 8.6%, busier than average
- June: 10.1%, busier than average
- July: 16.6%, one of the two busiest months
- August: 19.3%, one of the two busiest months
- September: 8.7%, busier than average
- October: 6.2%, quieter than average
- November: 3.9%, quieter than average
- December: 4.8%, quieter than average
quieter than average busier than average two busiest months · each month's share of France's 2025 tourist nights; an even spread is 8.3% a month
- Weather
- Coldest: January (average low 1.7 °C). Driest: April (45 mm). Month by month
- Prices
- Restaurants and accommodation in France: about 16% above the EU average in 2025. Is France expensive?
- Holidays
- 11 national public holidays in 2026. See the dates · School holidays
- Next
- Most visited museums · Plan a trip with your dates
At the LILLE_LESQUIN weather station, which we use for Lille, the warmest month is July and August (average high 23.7 °C) and the coldest January (average low 1.7 °C), averaged over 1991–2020. The wettest month is November (75 mm of rain). Across France, the quietest month for visitors in 2025 was November.
Lille weather by month
Averages for 1991–2020 at the LILLE_LESQUIN weather station (47 m above sea level), from the WMO climate normals, next to each month's share of France's tourist nights (Eurostat, 2025) in 2025. The shares are for the whole of France, not Lille alone. These are long-term averages, not a forecast. A rainy day is one with at least 1 mm of rain.
| Month | Average high | Average low | Rain | Rainy days | Daylight on the 15th | Share of 2025 (France) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 6.6 °C | 1.7 °C | 58 mm | 11.2 days | 8 h 30 min | 4.3% |
| February | 7.5 °C | 1.9 °C | 51 mm | 10.6 days | 10 h 5 min | 4.7% |
| March | 11.2 °C | 3.8 °C | 52 mm | 10.1 days | 11 h 50 min | 5.0% |
| April | 15.0 °C | 5.9 °C | 45 mm | 9.2 days | 13 h 50 min | 7.6% |
| May | 18.4 °C | 9.3 °C | 62 mm | 9.5 days | 15 h 30 min | 8.6% |
| June | 21.3 °C | 12.1 °C | 64 mm | 9.8 days | 16 h 25 min | 10.1% |
| July | 23.7 °C | 14.2 °C | 68 mm | 9.9 days | 16 h | 16.6% |
| August | 23.7 °C | 14.0 °C | 71 mm | 9.9 days | 14 h 30 min | 19.3% |
| September | 20.2 °C | 11.4 °C | 57 mm | 9.7 days | 12 h 40 min | 8.7% |
| October | 15.4 °C | 8.4 °C | 64 mm | 10.8 days | 10 h 45 min | 6.2% |
| November | 10.3 °C | 4.9 °C | 75 mm | 13.3 days | 9 h | 3.9% |
| December | 7.0 °C | 2.3 °C | 73 mm | 12.2 days | 8 h | 4.8% |
Golden hour
Evening golden hour is our calculation for the 15th of each month of 2026: the time the sun takes to go from 6° above to 4° below the horizon (there is no official definition).
Public holidays by month
National public holidays from the official list on our holiday page, by month, so you can see them next to the weather and how busy each month was. Regional and local holidays are not included.
| Month | 2026 | 2027 |
|---|---|---|
| January | 1 Jan: New Year's Day | 1 Jan: New Year's Day |
| March | – | 29 Mar: Easter Monday |
| April | 6 Apr: Easter Monday | – |
| May | 1 May: 1 May, 8 May: 8 May, 14 May: Ascension Day, 25 May: Whit Monday | 1 May: 1 May, 6 May: Ascension Day, 8 May: 8 May, 17 May: Whit Monday |
| July | 14 Jul: 14 July | 14 Jul: 14 July |
| August | 15 Aug: Assumption | 15 Aug: Assumption |
| November | 1 Nov: All Saints' Day, 11 Nov: 11 November | 1 Nov: All Saints' Day, 11 Nov: 11 November |
| December | 25 Dec: Christmas Day | 25 Dec: Christmas Day |
The quietest and busiest months
In 2025, November was France's quietest month (3.9% of the year's tourist nights): at Lille's station that month averages a high of 10.3 °C, a low of 4.9 °C and 75 mm of rain. August was the busiest (19.3%): average high 23.7 °C, average low 14.0 °C, 71 mm of rain. The visitor figures are for the whole country, and they do not show that the weather makes a month busier or quieter, so we do not say it does.
Similar weather, quieter: ideas for August
August was France's busiest month in 2025 (19.3% of its tourist nights). These places had an average high within 2 °C and rainy days within 3 of Lille's in August, in a different country, and August took a smaller share of its 2025 tourist nights than August did of France's:
- Hanover, Germany: average high 23.7 °C, 10.0 rainy days; August was 12.4% of Germany's year.
- Eindhoven, Netherlands: average high 23.7 °C, 10.4 rainy days; August was 15.4% of Netherlands's year.
- Antwerp, Belgium: average high 23.5 °C, 10.5 rainy days; August was 13.1% of Belgium's year.
- Luxembourg: average high 23.5 °C, 9.2 rainy days; August was 15.5% of Luxembourg's year.
- Poprad, Slovakia: average high 23.7 °C, 8.6 rainy days; August was 13.8% of Slovakia's year.
Weather: 1991–2020 averages at each city's weather station (World Meteorological Organization normals in Europe, Japan Meteorological Agency in Japan); a rainy day has at least 1 mm of rain. “Quieter” compares a month with the rest of that place's own year. Try another month or place. All quieter alternatives to France in August.
What these figures are
One weather station stands for Lille; places nearby can differ, especially by height or distance from the sea. For the rest of France, including regions and holidays, see our France page; for other places, the weather by city list and golden hour by place.
Key takeaways
- Warmest month: July and August (average high 23.7 °C); coldest: January (average low 1.7 °C).
- Wettest month: November (75 mm); driest: April (45 mm).
- In 2025, November was France's quietest month for visitors and August the busiest.
Sources
Weather normals from the WMO 1991–2020 dataset; daylight and golden hour are our calculations; tourism shares are the country's, from Eurostat. See how we research.
- Weather: WMO Member Nations (2023). WMO Climatological Standard Normals for 1991-2020 (NCEI Accession 0253808), version 6.6, station LILLE_LESQUIN (station ID 00007015), mean daily maximum and minimum temperature, precipitation and number of days with at least 1 mm of precipitation, normals computed from at least 24 years. NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information. Dataset. doi:10.25921/800j-vn07. Accessed 24 September 2026. Released by NOAA under CC0.
- Daylight: our calculation of the time from sunrise to sunset on the 15th of each month of 2026 at the weather station's location, by the method of the NOAA Solar Calculator (NOAA Global Monitoring Laboratory, “Solar Calculation Details”, based on Jean Meeus, Astronomical Algorithms, allowing 0.833° for refraction and the size of the sun). Read it. Checked 22 September 2026. NOAA notes that calculated times can differ from what is observed.
- Source: Eurostat, Nights spent at tourist accommodation establishments – monthly data, doi:10.2908/TOUR_OCC_NIM, accessed 25 September 2026. Dataset last updated by Eurostat on 22 September 2026. Extract: number of nights, NACE codes I55.1–I55.3, all guests and split by guests resident in the country and abroad, January–December 2025.
Modified data: the rounding, the arrangement, the daylight, golden-hour and sea columns and the quietest/busiest comparison are ours, from the cited figures.