Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

If you're planning a long-weekend city trip, Riyadh deserves a close look. This Saudi Arabia destination lies in a desert climate, and its climate record peaks at a 96/100 sun score in December — 22°C afternoons under 28% average cloud cover.

July is the heat peak, averaging 44°C highs; January is the cool end, when nights dip to around 9°C. Rain is most likely in February, when about 10% of days see meaningful rainfall, and least likely in June (0%). Beach-warm afternoons (24°C and up) hold through March–November.

Averaged by season, sun scores land at 80 for spring, 68 for summer, 80 for autumn and 94 for winter — with typical afternoons of 34°, 43°, 34° and 22°C respectively. In short: plan around winter if you can, keep spring as the fallback, and go into summer with managed expectations (its season score is 68). A practical compromise is November — the edge of the warm window, averaging 28°C with a 95 sun score.

Best months to visit Riyadh

Our month-by-month scoring puts December first (96/100), with November (95) and January (94) close behind. Anything in January–April and October–December clears our 70-point reliability bar. Skip August if sunshine is the point — it bottoms out at 67/100.

For context: in December, Riyadh is drier than 50% of the desert destinations we track.

Month-by-month breakdown for Riyadh → · More destinations for December →

Right now the 15-day outlook shows 13 mostly-clear days (under 40% cloud) and none with real rain risk, with temperatures between 18°C and 36°C — which is how Riyadh earns its current 81/100 sun score.