Climate in Italy

For property buyers in Italy the climate often plays an important role. People are mainly looking for a holiday home, that they usually also want to rent out. Moreover, you may have traveled in a specific region of Italy in the summer, probably with nice summer weather. But is it also a nice region to live in in the other seasons? Some regions have notable internal differences, especially where there are mountains. Italy House Hunting cares about informing you about climate differences in Italy before you buy.

Climate area map of Italy

Sunshine in Italy (in hrs per year)

In general, Central and Southern Italy have a Mediterranean climate with warm, dry summers and mild winters. Most of the precipitation almost only falls in the winter periods. In the interior of these regions there is more chance of rain in the summer than at the coast. Central Italy has the Apennines, a mountain range where you can ski in winter and where it can get quite cold. 

In Northern Italy it is colder than in the south. The climate of Northern Italy has colder winters with snow and relatively warm summers. Clouds often linger for a long time due to the mountains and it often rains. Sudden thunderstorms, heavy rain and heavy hailstorms are typical weather phenomena in Northern Italy. In the Alps it usually snows from November to March/April. 

Precipitation in Italy (mm/year)

The analysis of climate data leads to some interesting and surprising observations. It turns out that in summer in some areas in regions in the south it can be less hot than in certain areas of Central Italy, for example, in Tuscany. If you have chosen a region for the purchase of a home, be sure to check the climate data from a nearby weather station. If you consider living in your house all your around, the average winter temperatures or the number of frosty nights are important. If you hate rain, the number of rainy days is an interesting metric. If you suffer from excessive heat, check the average summer temperatures. Or maybe you have an area in mind where there is a lot of fog. 

The internal differences in some of the larger regions are surprising. For example, it appears that on the Amalfi coast there is twice as much rainfall as the average in Italy and that the number of hours of sunshine per year is much lower than average there. 

Below you find some climate data examples of most of the Italian regions. For more in-dept information we suggest you consult the more detailed pages, which are dedicated to climate data per region:

North Italy: Aosta Valley, Piedmont, Liguria, Lombardy, Trentino-South Tyrol, Veneto, Friuli-Venezia Giulia, Emilia-Romagna;

Central Italy: Tuscany, Umbria, Le Marche, Lazio;

South Italy: Abruzzo, Molise, Puglia, Basilicata, Campania, Calabria

The Islands: Sardinia, Sicily.

Region	City	Alt. (m)	Avg max t° Jan (°C)	Avg min t° Jan (°C)	Avg max t° July (°C)	Avg min t° July (°C)	rain-fall (mm /yr)	rain d. /yr	heat d. /yr	frost nts /yr	fog d. /yr	sun-sh hrs /yr	Avg sun-sh hrs /day
Abruzzo	Pescara	11	11	2	29	17	657	73	29	27	25	2227	6.1
Basilicata	Picerno (PZ)	721	6	1	27	16	652	90				2117	5.8
Calabria	Isola di Capo Rizzuto (KR)	161	13	6	31	19	792	63	46	2	9	2446	6.7
Calabria	Reggio Calabria	21	15	8	31	22	547	69	57	0	0	2482	6.8
Campania	Napoli Airport (NA)	72	13	4	30	19	1008	86	41	9	13	2373	6.5
Campania	Capo Palinuro (SA)	185	13	8	28	21	730	79	18	0	1	2555	7.0
Emilia-Romagna	Bologna	42	6	-1	30	18	671	74	46	49	70	2044	5.6
Emilia-Romagna	Piacenza	50	5	-2	29	16	721	79	31	73	79	2117	5.8
Emilia-Romagna	Rimini	13	8	0	28	18	655	77	20	43	57	2044	5.6
Friuli-Venezia Giulia	Trieste	2	8	3	28	20	1003	92	15	9	5	2117	5.8
Lazio	Santa Marinella (RM)	4	13	7	27	21	711	66	3	1	0	2519	6.9
Lazio	Roma Ciampino	129	12	3	31	19	793	79	52	19	14	2592	7.1
Liguria	Genova	4	11	5	27	21	1079	77	9	3	0	2227	6.1
Liguria	Capo Mele (SV)	221	12	7	27	20	716	60	9	1	12	2300	6.3
Lombardia	Bergamo	237	7	-1	29	18	1103	90	22	61	48	1825	5.0
Lombardia	Milano	122	5	1	29	20	895	81	31	57	93	1825	5.0
Marche	Ancona	10	9	1	28	17	739	83	20	35	36	2227	6.1
Molise	Campobasso	807	7	2	26	17	560	82	13	36	31	2117	5.8
Piemonte	Torino	287	5	-2	28	17	981	81	16	83	46	1971	5.4
Puglia	Brindisi	10	13	7	29	21	604	64	32	1	20	2592	7.1
Puglia	Foggia	60	12	3	32	18	495	86	66	18	32	2446	6.7
Sardegna	Cagliari	1	14	5	31	20	395	61	60	4	20	2701	7.4
Sardegna	Alghero (SS)	23	14	6	29	17	573	65	40	5	44	2592	7.1
Sicilia	Gela (CL)	33	17	9	26	21	368	45	10	0	3	2665	7.3
Sicilia	Messina	51	14	10	30	23	847	87	42	0	0	2482	6.8
Sicilia	Trapani	7	15	8	30	20	496	64	41	0	6	2665	7.3
Toscana	Arezzo	248	9	0	30	14	802	87	42	63	36	1971	5.4
Toscana	Firenze	40	11	2	31	18	873	88	61	35	27	2117	5.8
Toscana	Grosseto	5	12	3	30	17	632	71	41	25	12	2373	6.5
Toscana	Isola d'Elba (LI)	397	10	5	28	19	679	66	6	7	86	2154	5.9
Toscana	Pisa	1	11	2	29	17	894	85	35	34	55	2263	6.2
Trentino-Alto Adige	Bolzano	262	6	-5	29	16	712	77	33	98	15	1898	5.2
Umbria	Perugia	205	8	1	29	16	850	96	41	49	32	2117	5.8
Veneto	Venezia	6	7	0	28	18	748	79	16	53	61	2044	5.6
Veneto	Verona	68	6	-1	30	19	783	77	46	62	79	2190	6
ITALY	National average	-	7.4	0.5	28	16	876	81	27	45	51	2232	6.1