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How Cold Does it Get in Italy?

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The short answer is -50°C, yes that is minus fifty.

Well, the coldest place in Italy is in Trentino and as you might expect, it’s in the mountains. The 2,600 metre (8,530 feet) high Pale di S. Martino plateau can hit -50°C during the winter months.

I really only know about the northern part of Italy, having never ventured south during the winter months, but it was no surprise at all for me to find out that a place in the high mountains gets almost as cold as the Arctic.

The Pedrotti Refuge
The Pedrotti Refuge – one of several on the Pale di S. Martino Plateau

Minus 50°C is very cold

As for the rest of Italy, if you don’t head for the high mountains, Italy does not feel that cold in the winter.

If you are from a country with a hot climate, such as Australia, then you will find Italy does feel cold from the end of November to the end of February, especially at night.

Britons and others coming from northern Europe may not find the cold excessive if they stick to the larger cities.

I think just about everyone would understand that the mountain areas can become extremely cold. As you probably know, people do come skiing in Italy, so it does get cold enough to snow.

Watch out if you end up in one of those Alpine valleys that only catches the sun for a few hours a day during the winter months.  These areas, Cogne, for example, can become freezing cold from the late afternoon onwards.

Take nice warm clothes and good gloves with you if you are planning to head into the mountains in winter, unless, of course, you are skiing, in which case if you keep moving, you will not feel the cold so much – well I never have done.  But watch out, those ski lifts can be cold places when a little wind gets up.

The Warm South

As for Italy’s south, I can only tell you about what others have said to me.  I’ve been told that the hilly and semi-mountainous areas in the south can get pretty chilly during the winter months – not quite as cold as -50°C, but there are ski slopes in Italy’s south, so it can still be freezing at altitude.  The further south you head, the milder the winter weather becomes.  In Sicily in winter, 20°C days are not unknown during winter.

Sweltering Winter in Genoa

Oh, and there is one other place in Italy’s north that remains remarkably mild during the winter months – Genoa.  This city can become quite cool in winter, but if the sun gets out, even in mid-winter, the temperature can head towards 25°C quite easily.  I know, I experienced this on Christmas Day. It was freaky.

If you want mild weather in Italy during the winter months, head for the deep south. Then again, if you like winter sports, head for the Alps and the Dolomites – but don’t ignore Abruzzo and Le Marche which also have a few mountains and some ski slopes too.

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Comments

  1. I live in Genoa and I’ve never heard about 25 degrees in winter. Maybe with a “foehn storm”, low humidity and clear skies, you can see 16-17 degrees, but it may happen even in Munich or Wien.
    Genoa is also a rainy city (1200mm per year) and the daily temperature range is limited (5/6°C); in fact you can define it more oceanic than mediterranean.
    Winter is not so cold, you’re right, even if snow is quite common also at the sea level (at least 2/3 times per year).
    But you have to consider 2 fundamental things: the first is that Genoa is a really windy city, so the sensation of cold is really emphasized in winter (you feel far better in Milan with -2°C and no wind, than here with 5°C and a 20mph-wind). The second characteristic, which is almost unknown outside Genoa, is the orographic factor. Genoa has got many climates inside: for example, while in Nervi, which is surrounded by mountains that protect from northern winds, it snows seldom (about once every ten years), in many other parts of the city snow may appear for the first time in November and the temperature in winter can be 10/12 degrees lower than the Nervi’s one. Ps in the local roads and in the higways you need to have snow chains on board since the 1st of November until 31st of March.

    For what concerns other parts of Italy, the whole Po valley in winter is really misty, cold and quite snowy.
    Alps can be divided into 2 parts: the western one is milder but snowier and the eastern one is really cold but drier.
    The peninsula can be divided into 2 parts too: the eastern one (Marche, Abruzzo, Molise) is colder and the Appennines are cool and really really snowy; the thyrrenian side (Tuscany, Rome, Neaples) is milder and hardly sees the snow. The winter in the South is really pleasant, but pay attention: e.g. in Calabria there are many famous skiing resorts!

    • Hi Beaulieu,

      I know Genoa has an interesting set of micro climates – I go there quite often.

      As for the 24°C on Christmas day – I was there – in Nervi – so I know.

      I would disagree on the cold front re Genoa centre – I live in Milan and I’ve never found Genoa to be as cold as Milan in winter – although I do know that up in the hills behind Genoa it can become very cold.

      Genoa is an odd city – being long and thin.

      And I knew about skiing down in the south of Italy!

      Italy has a complex climate owing to it’s mountainous nature and the fact that it juts out into the Med.

      Best,

      Alex

      • Yes, you’re right, Genoa is really odd. You have huge differences in the climate just in a distance of 2-3 km. I may believe about 24 degrees just because you were in Nervi: in other parts it would have been impossible.
        Ps I said that often the sensation of cold is more accentuated here than in Milan, due to the windchill effect, just because Genoa one of the windiest city in Italy and Milan one of the less, even if the temperature in winter is on average 5/6 degrees lower than here. However, in winter, there are also days in which you can suntan at the beach, while in Milan it could be quite hard 😉

  2. I live in Genoa, i’m 35 and the hottest temperature i’ve ever experienced in winter is 16°C…Winter in Genoa is not as cold as in the other northern areas of italy, but 25°C are really unpossible to reach in winter! that’s a summer temperature!
    Genoa has a very rainy and windy winter and snowfalls are quite common…Actually i find winter in London milder than in Genoa.
    The other northern areas (like the Po valley) have a colder, but less windy winter than Britain. these areas are usually coverd with snow in winter and temperatures are often below 0°C (lowest ever -29.8°C near Bologna in 1985).
    About mountains and southern areas i agree with the article: mountains are really cold all over the country, while the south and the isles enjoy a mild (but really windy) winter.

  3. i don’t know where you live but i live in northern italy and we had -17°C last night.. if you think that’s warm…

    • Hi Fra – as I mention in the post – up in the mountains it can become very cold and drop down to less than -25°C at night – or really high up in the mountains.

      Where are you in northern Italy?

      If you read this blog a little more, you’ll find out where I am in northern Italy.

      Best,

      Alex

      • A year late…
        Udine, East Venetian Plain (Friuli), a few tens kilometers from the sea, touched -18°C on 20th December 2009, and it almost replied last month.
        Maybe you went to North Italy during the very mild winter 2006/’07: if you read any meteorological data, you will find that North Italy is on average COLDER than all UK. Of course, on average: December 2010 was the second ever coldest December in England, about 5°C less than average; in North Italy, instead, it was almost a normal month, just slightly below the average.
        Come in any “real” winter here, like this one, 2009, 2008, 2006, 2005, 2002 and so on…no one among them was historically cold, but we saw a lot of snow or ice at plain, not just in the mountains! Night temperatures below freezing point are quite common even on the Adriatic sea sides, while Milan saw 40cm of snow in just 2 days both in 2006 and 2009 (and we don’t get crazy for 10-15cm of fresh snow like in north-western Europe LOL).
        Genoa, as said from Davide, is very warm compared to the rest of North Italy, but not so warm (maybe just in the very mild winter 2007, which broke some historical record of warmth in Piedmont and Liguria); anyway, a few days a year it can see snow and frost too.
        Thus, if you come from Norway or East Germany, you can find us mild! But remember: we have not the wind, but we have humidity; and having fog (typical between late November and late January) together with -3°C can be very unpleasant…while February and even March can see many sunny days but also great snowfalls.

        • P.S. “a lot of snow” is referred to the usual average of plain and coastal areas of British Isles: which, in the last 3 years, saw even more snow (above all by December 2010); but usually see much less – do not misunderstand it with “snow days”: North Italy winters are often drier, so we get less snow days, but on average for every snow day we can get 3-5cm on the ground, while seeing snow or sleet with no accumulation is very rare.