Weather Whatever your reasons to coming to Prague, chances are the weather isn’t one of them. Okay, so the weather in Prague isn’t any better or worse than anywhere else in Central Europe – this is just a pretty dismal region, weather-wise, in general. And it could be a lot worse – Prague winters are a lot less brutal than those in, say, Berlin, a little further to the north. The best time to come to Prague is undoubtedly the spring. Okay, so there may still be snow on the ground until late May, but usually the temperature is perfect for strolling – not too cold, not too warm either. Depending on when you come, there could be anywhere from five to eight hours of sun a day, with anywhere between 63 and 78 mm of rain each month. Average springtime temperatures can remain down at zero degrees Celsius (32 Fahrenheit) in March, while creeping up to 17 (63 degrees Fahrenheit) in May. In the summertime, the Czechs flea the city for their country cottages in order to avoid the tourist hordes who descend upon the city, basically ruining it for all of us who choose to remain. Summers are pleasant – it occasionally gets suffocatingly hot, but not often. The days are long – the sun often remains up for nine hours – until 10pm at night. Summer is definitely the sunniest time of year, but thundery showers tend to erupt at unexpected moments. July is the hottest month, with temperatures often reaching up to 23 degrees Celsius (73 Fahrenheit.) Autumn is a pleasant month in the Czech capital, although the days tend to grow shorter and a wave of winter anxiety begins to underlie the general mood of the city towards October. Most of the summer tourists tend to clear out by September, making that a pretty good month for visiting or moving to the city, as it’s not yet cold enough to force people indoors all day. Autumn is also the rainiest season, though – in October and November, the city tends to get well over 100 mm of rain. Be sure to carry an umbrella. If there’s one season to avoid Prague, that would be the wintertime. The sun seemingly never appears – when it does, it’s for one to three hours a day. It’s bone cold and gloomy, everyone seems to be in a perpetually bad mood. The one exception is Christmastime, when the streets fill up with holiday markets and carp-sellers. Otherwise, it’s pretty dismal. Temperatures get down to zero degrees Celsius, and remain that way for most of the time between December and February. Expect lots of rain, too – between 62 and 73 mm.
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