#1Swanage
9,115 peopleJanuary low·16 air frosts a year·#24 of 2,537 in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland
Swanage, #1 on this list · Photo: Oast House Archive · CC BY-SA 2.0Dorset rankings · Climate
Towns with the mildest winters in Dorset
Swanage has the mildest winters of Dorset’s 32 towns of 2,500+: January nights average a low of 4.0°C (Met Office, 1991–2020). The typical town here averages 2.3°C.
The average January low (the coldest month’s nights). Met Office HadUK-Grid 1991–2020 averages on its 2 km grid, the cells inside each town averaged (contains Met Office data © Crown copyright). A described list: no letters. The rank across England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland sits beside each figure.
#14.0°C
#2Fortuneswell
4,554 peopleJanuary low·7 air frosts a year·#40 of 2,537 in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland
#3Weston
5,208 peopleJanuary low·7 air frosts a year·#42 of 2,537 in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland
All 32 towns, ranked
January low, highest first. Temperatures are ranked on two decimals and shown to one, so two towns showing the same figure can rank apart; towns smaller than a 2 km cell share its figures. Towns with the same figure share a rank (T = tied). Each rank across England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland links to the national list.
32 towns.
#TownJanuary lowAir frostsUK rank
Quick answers
Questions people ask
Which town in Dorset has the mildest winters?
Swanage: January nights average a low of 4.0°C, with 16 air frosts in a typical year. Fortuneswell and Weston follow.
How are these towns ranked?
By the average January low, highest first, from the Met Office’s 1991–2020 averages on its 2 km grid: the cells inside the town, or the one nearest its centre for a town smaller than a cell. The figure is the one on each town’s Climate page.
Why isn’t my town on this list?
The list covers Dorset’s towns of 2,500+ with the figure. Smaller places show it on their own pages; every town in Dorset is on the county page.
Go deeper
All Dorset rankings →More Dorset lists
Every list ranks the same 2,500+ towns, so a town’s rank means the same thing on each.
Best places to live30 towns · #1 West ParleyBest small towns16 towns · #1 West ParleyMost affordable towns30 towns · #1 FortuneswellSafest towns30 towns · #1 MerleyTowns with the best schools30 towns · #1 BournemouthHealthiest towns30 towns · #1 Ashley HeathBest towns for jobs & income30 towns · #1 MerleyMost walkable towns30 towns · #1 DorchesterTowns with the lowest flood risk30 towns · #1 Alderholt and 8 moreBest towns for the outdoors30 towns · #1 SwanageMost historic towns30 towns · #1 BridportTowns with the most civic life30 towns · #1 Lytchett MatraversTowns with the highest household incomes32 towns · #1 PimperneDescribed, no lettersTowns with the lowest council tax32 towns · #1 Bearwood and 2 moreDescribed, no lettersTowns with the warmest summers32 towns · #1 BearwoodDescribed, no lettersTowns with the coolest summers32 towns · #1 SwanageDescribed, no lettersTowns with the fewest frosts32 towns · #1 Fortuneswell and WestonDescribed, no lettersDriest towns32 towns · #1 FortuneswellDescribed, no lettersWettest towns32 towns · #1 BeaminsterDescribed, no letters
County by county
Towns with the mildest winters, county by county
AberdeenshireBedfordshireBerkshireBuckinghamshireCambridgeshireCheshireClwydCornwallCounty DurhamCumbriaDerbyshireDevonDorsetDyfedEast Riding of YorkshireEast SussexEssexFifeGloucestershireGreater ManchesterGwentHampshireHertfordshireHighlandKentLancashireLeicestershireLincolnshireLondonMerseysideMid GlamorganNorfolkNorth LanarkshireNorth YorkshireNorthamptonshireNorthumberlandNottinghamshireOxfordshireShropshireSomersetSouth LanarkshireSouth YorkshireStaffordshireSuffolkSurreyTyne and WearWarwickshireWest GlamorganWest MidlandsWest SussexWest YorkshireWiltshireWorcestershire
Sources: . All under the Open Government Licence v3.0.
Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Contains HM Land Registry data © Crown copyright and database right 2026. Contains OS data © Crown copyright and database right 2026 (ONS boundaries). Northern Ireland: Source: NISRA; contains Land & Property Services data and Ordnance Survey of Northern Ireland information, © Crown copyright, licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Scotland: contains National Records of Scotland data, Registers of Scotland data and SEPA data, © Crown copyright / © SEPA 2025, licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.