Climate of Libya

Climate of Libya

Where is the country of Libya located? Libya, officially the State of Libya, is a country in the Maghreb region in North Africa. Libya has a desert climate, with hot, very dry summers and warm winters with almost precipitation. The Libyan desert is considered one of the driest areas in the world. The coastal areas have a Mediterranean climate, with warm and dry summers and mild winters, with some precipitation. For example, the seawater along the coast makes it less hot and feels less hot compared to the interior and it brings some precipitation in the winter months. The rain that falls there mainly occurs in the period from October to April. In the months of February-March you can see the desert vegetation thankfully in bloom thanks to the 200 to 300 millimeters of rain that falls during the wetter winter period.

Heat

It can get extremely hot in Libya. Temperatures during the day are well above 30 degrees and sometimes even reach an unpleasant 50 degrees Celsius. In the summer months, heat waves can regularly occur, in which the mercury can rise to more than forty degrees. Especially the months of July and August can be very hot.

Cooling

In the desert it can cool down considerably at night. That’s something you don’t easily take into account when you go to a hot destination like Libya. However, the contrasts between day and night temperatures can be quite large. It is therefore important to bring a warm sweater or cardigan for the night. Protective clothing against sandstorms is also a must when going into the desert.

Winter sun

Winters are mild with daytime temperatures along the coast of 17 to 25 degrees. Those are quite pleasant conditions for a winter sun holiday. Because it rarely rains for long periods and the sun shines quite abundantly throughout the year, Libya is potentially quite well suited as a winter sun destination. The question is whether you can sunbathe and swim here. Libya is not one of the easiest destinations to say the least.

Hot wind: ghibli

Ghibli (also called gibli, chibli, gebli, kibli or gibleh) is the local name for a sirocco. This strong wind, blowing from the south or southwest, usually brings a lot of dust with it, making travel very difficult. During the predictable ghibli, the temperature often rises to 40 to 50 degrees and the relative humidity drops from 75-80 percent to 10 to 20 percent. The ghibli is caused by a depression over the Mediterranean Sea, which has a suction effect. That is why this phenomenon that virtually paralyzes daily life in Libya is predictable. In Egypt one also has to deal with a similar phenomenon, there it is called the khamsin. The desert winds are most common in the spring and autumn and usually last from one to four to five days.

Climate figures

The figures below are based on long-term average climate statistics. The temperatures are displayed in degrees Celsius (°C).

Maximum temperature Minimum temperature Hours of sunshine per day Days of rainfall per month Water temperature
January 17℃ 8℃ 7 8 17℃
February 19℃ 8℃ 7 5 16℃
March 21℃ 10℃ 8 4 16℃
April 25℃ 13℃ 9 2 17℃
May 30℃ 17℃ 10 1 19℃
June 34℃ 21℃ 11 0 22℃
July 35℃ 23℃ 12 0 25℃
August 35℃ 23℃ 11 0 27℃
September 33℃ 21℃ 9 1 26℃
October 29℃ 18℃ 8 3 24℃
November 24℃ 13℃ 7 6 22℃
December 19℃ 9℃ 6 8 19℃

Best time to visit Libya

Do you want to know when is the best time to travel to Libya? You can determine the best time to travel to a destination based on the weather and climate. In addition, there are other factors that are not directly related to the weather and that can influence the best travel periods for a travel destination. Think, for example, of holidays or festive periods, which makes traveling more interesting or not, because daily life comes to a standstill as a result. Libya is a country located in the north of Africa. The north of Libya is located on the Mediterranean Sea. The rest of the country consists largely of desert and is part of the Sahara. After the coast, Libya is one of the driest destinations in the world. The desert landscape is extremely arid and largely uninhabited. There is hardly any rain. In some places, no precipitation is recorded for years. The desert of Libya can get very hot in the summer. Official temperatures of 50 degrees are sometimes established. You can hardly imagine how hot that is.

Before we talk about the best time to travel to Libya, we have to mention that the situation in Libya can be such that travel to this country is advised against by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Therefore, first check the current travel advice for Libya before you book a trip.

Best time to visit

Due to the fairly large differences in precipitation and temperature, it is not so easy to choose the best time to visit Libya. In the winter months it is best to bear in the desert, while the coastal areas are slightly cooler and especially in the northeastern hills can be on the wet side. For the northern coastal strip, spring and autumn are the better periods for a trip to Libya. If we have to indicate periods as the most suitable travel time to go to Libya, then these are the period from mid-March to mid-April and the period from mid-October to the second half of November.

Sun holiday in Libya

If the circumstances in Libya allow for a holiday in the sun, then the period from May to September is the best time to travel. It is then warm, dry and extremely sunny on the Mediterranean coast. Tripoli, the capital, is practically dry in June, July and August. The maximum temperatures on the coast are on average between 30 and 35 degrees. There may be periods of warming, especially in July and August. The central and southern parts of Libya are warmer and drier. The summer months are hot and can get extremely hot. In July and August, afternoon temperatures can occasionally reach 50 degrees Celsius. There isn’t a person in the world who likes that anymore.

Libya