Albania » Weather

Albania has a mild, Mediterranean climate.  It never gets cold in the lowlands. The weather in Albania mostly remains sunny with rainfall between autumn and spring. Summers in Albania are hot and dry with strong sunshine. Albania’s winters are mild, cloudy and wet with a lot of rainfall. Due to the different landscapes the climate in Albania also varies from region to region.

Summers along the coast are very pleasant, with sea breezes and comfortable cool nights. The average day temperature is around 30°C (85°F). Albania’s winters however are not too pleasant as it tends to get very cold. While temperatures still average around 13°C (56°F) in January, they can drop below zero at night, and even cities can be uncomfortably cold. It is warmer in the western part of the country while in the eastern part of Albania the winters are cold.

The Ionian Cost, in particular, is very clement; with average winter temperatures of 8-10 °C (46-50F). In Tirana and in other inland cities on the plains, temperature sometimes at night drops below freezing. Snow rarely lasts for more than a day. In the summer, the inland towns can be extremely hot. July is the warmest month. In Tirana, temperatures at times reach 40 °C (104F). Mostly the hotels have the facility of air conditioners. In summers the best place keeping in mind the weather conditions would be the high mountains or the coast where the sea breezes keep the temperature down to almost 25-30 °C (73-86F). In the highlands, snow can fall from November until March and mountain towns are very cold at this time of year. Inland conditions vary depending on altitude but the higher areas above 1,500 m/5,000 ft are rather cold and frequently snowy in winter.

The best time to visit Albania are the months of May, June and September, when it's not too hot or crowded with September being the best as it’s comfortably warm. The days are long as well and the fruit and vegetables are in good supply. Throughout the country, summer and early autumn are the most settled months.