Which places are warm to visit in December?

Dubai: warm days, little rain, a cooler evening

Dubai's December is the opposite of its summer. The WMO station record lists an average December high of 26.2 degrees Celsius and a low of 15.4, with 14.3 mm of rain over 2 days. Note that this record covers 1974 to 1991, so it is an old reference period, and modern conditions may differ.

The trade-off is the evening chill: a low of 15 degrees feels cool after a warm afternoon. In the same station record, rain is concentrated in the cooler months, which is why even this dry place shows a couple of rain days in December. Read about Dubai stays, and check the official travel advice for the UAE before you book.

Muscat: steady warmth on the Gulf of Oman

At Seeb, the Muscat station in the WMO service, the average December high is 26.8 degrees Celsius and the low is 18.3. Rain is small: 16.5 mm over 1.4 days, based on 1986 to 2009 normals. Compared with Dubai, the nights are a little milder.

Station data describe one coastal point near the airport, so places at other elevations or on other coasts of Oman will differ. Our Muscat page lists stays, and a kitchen is useful if you prefer to eat in rather than travel to restaurants.

Hurghada: almost no rain, but not hot

Hurghada on the Red Sea is the driest place here. The WMO lists an average December high of 23.2 degrees Celsius and a low of 13.0, with just 1.5 mm of rain over 0.2 days (1981 to 2010 normals). We include it as a borderline case, because the high is under our 25 degree rule.

That makes it a place for sun and walking more than for heat: the 13 degree low means you will want a jacket after dark. See Hurghada for stays and check government travel advice for Egypt, including for specific regions, close to your dates.

Maldives: warm sea air, with more rain in December

The Maldives are hot all year, and December is no exception. At Malé, the WMO lists an average high of 30.1 degrees Celsius and a low of 25.4, with 216.8 mm of rain over 12 days (1981 to 2000 normals). That is about twice the rainfall the same station records in January, at 114.2 mm.

For a December trip, expect warm showers rather than a dry spell, and consider that Malé is a single station for a country of many atolls. There are no city stay pages for the Maldives on our site yet, so use the table below for climate only.

Phuket: hot, with a shower most weeks

Phuket's December average high is 31.5 degrees Celsius and the low is 24.0, according to the WMO, with 61.9 mm of rain over 8.3 days. The period for these figures is not stated on the page. January is drier at the same station, with 23.3 mm.

Phuket is one station on the Andaman coast, so its numbers should not be applied to other parts of Thailand. Bangkok is a useful contrast: see Bangkok for stays, and compare its figures with those of Chiang Mai on our December picks.

Colombo: warm and humid with heavy rain

At Colombo, the WMO lists an average December high of 30.3 degrees Celsius and a low of 22.8, with 175.3 mm of rain over 10 days (1961 to 1990 normals). That is among the wetter December totals in this list, though the station sits on the west coast of Sri Lanka and other coasts can differ.

A trip here suits people who accept daily showers in exchange for warm nights. Sri Lanka has no city stay pages on our site at the moment, so we cannot show a comparison for it; the country table below is the best reference.

Cancún: warm, humid, and past the hurricane season

Cancún's WMO December average high is 28.2 degrees Celsius with a low of 21.2, and 95.7 mm of rain over 10.6 days (1971 to 2000 normals). The Atlantic hurricane season runs officially from 1 June to 30 November, according to NOAA, so December comes just after it. NOAA also notes that storms have occurred outside those dates.

Humidity is high and showers are frequent in the station record, so a sunny forecast is not a given. See Cancún for stays, or Santo Domingo if you prefer a Caribbean capital with similar timing and a slightly warmer day.

Santo Domingo: Caribbean heat on the south coast

At Santo Domingo, the WMO lists an average December high of 29.6 degrees Celsius and a low of 20.3, with 84.3 mm of rain over 9 days (1961 to 1990 normals). The hurricane season dates from NOAA mean December is outside the official window, with the same caveat about off-season storms.

These are old normals for one station on the island's south coast, so other coasts can differ. Pack for a warm day and a mild evening, and allow for a few rainy days.

Rio de Janeiro: southern-hemisphere summer

Rio is warm in December because it is early summer in the southern hemisphere. The WMO lists an average high of 28.6 degrees Celsius and a low of 22.4, with 169 mm of rain over 13 days (1961 to 1990 normals). Its 13 rain days are the most of any station here except Singapore.

That means warm weather for beach walks, but also humid, showery days. Stays in Rio de Janeiro range across the main districts; our guide to monthly serviced apartments helps if you are staying for weeks.

Singapore: warm every month, wettest in December

Singapore's weather service describes the Northeast Monsoon as running from December to early March, with the wetter phase usually falling between December and early January. For Changi, it gives a December mean of 331.9 mm of rain over 19 rain days, making December the wettest month of the year, with an average daily high of about 30.5 degrees Celsius and a low of about 24.3 (1991 to 2020).

This is the wettest December on the list, with warm nights, so it suits people who are happy to plan around afternoon downpours and spend time indoors. Check Singapore for stays, where a unit with a kitchen and laundry can make a long wet spell easier.

December warmth and rain, side by side

The table gathers the December figures in one place. Sort it by the column that matters to you: highs for the warmest days, lows for warm nights, and rain days for dryness.

How we chose, and what to check before booking

We included places with a typical December daytime high of about 25 degrees Celsius or above, took every figure from the WMO pages, and did not rank them. We left out places without a station in the WMO service. Normals are averages over a past period, and several here are over thirty years old, so use them to compare patterns, not to expect a given day.

For a trip of a week or more, think about practical comfort: air conditioning or fans, a kitchen for easy meals, and laundry. Our guides on cooking in an aparthotel kitchen and winter long stays cover those points. The table of our own aparthotel figures sits under the sections for the countries covered here.