#1Penzance
Cornwall · 14,957 peopleJanuary low·8 air frosts a year·#1 of 35 in Cornwall
Penzance, #1 on this list · Photo: Andrew Abbott · CC BY-SA 2.0England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland · Climate
Towns with the mildest winters in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland
Penzance, Cornwall, has the mildest winters of 2,537 towns and cities of 2,500+ in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland: January nights average a low of 5.3°C (Met Office, 1991–2020). The typical town here averages 1.7°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 area rank sits beside each figure.
#15.3°C
#2Newlyn
Cornwall · 3,362 peopleJanuary low·7 air frosts a year·#2 of 35 in Cornwall
#3St Ives
Cornwall · 5,413 peopleJanuary low·6 air frosts a year·#3 of 35 in Cornwall
The top 100
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 area rank links to that area’s list.
100 towns on this page. Counties and council areas with 15 or more towns have their own list.
#TownJanuary lowAir frostsCounty rank
Quick answers
Questions people ask
Which town in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland has the mildest winters?
Penzance, Cornwall: January nights average a low of 5.3°C, with 8 air frosts in a typical year. Newlyn, Cornwall and St Ives, Cornwall 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?
Every town of 2,500+ is ranked here; each county with 15 or more such towns has its own list, linked below.
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.