Weather

Although a small country Sri Lanka has a remarkably varied climate. From sunny beaches to misty mountain tops, from lush rainforests to dry desert like areas. As a monsoonal tropical island, Sri Lanka has both a dry and wet season, which happen concurrently on opposite sides of the island. There are two monsoons that affect Sri Lanka, the Northeast and Southwest monsoon. The northern and eastern parts of the island are generally affected by the North-East Monsoon which brings rain from October to January thereby allowing a dry season from May to September. Similarly the South-West Monsoon affect the island’s southwest from May to August and the dry season takes place from December to March. However even during the time of the monsoon season, the days can start off sunny and then have showers or even thunderstorms in the afternoon and evening. Throughout the year daylight hours are from 6.00am to 6.00pm There are three climate zones, the wet zone, intermediate and the dry zone. Temperatures and humidity differs according to the zone with the low lands having an average temperature of 27C – 30C and the hill country an average of 15C which decreases by 5-6C depending on the ascent upwards. The highest temperatures in the island generally occur between March and June while November to January are considered the coolest months. However in Sri Lanka, the distinction between ‘hot’ and ‘cold’ varies by a few degrees. Happily, throughout the year, the ocean remains at a constant temperature of 27C.