Climate Romania
Hot summers, snowy winters, soft, colorful springs and autumns: in Romania, each season has its own charm and character. Its continental climate, which varies from region to region, offers a wide range of experiences. In winter, it's all about skiing and horse-drawn sledging. Covered in a thick blanket of white, the landscapes are enchanting. In summer, the Carpathian mountains are ideal for sunny hikes, unless you prefer to bask in the sun on the shores of the Black Sea. As for the mid-seasons, they're ideal for nature lovers, when flowers bloom in abundance in spring, or forests take on flamboyant hues in autumn. It's also the best time to explore the Danube delta. This characterful climate can prove tumultuous: Romania is regularly hit by severe floods, heatwaves and droughts, exacerbated by global warming.
Four distinct seasons
Romania has a continental climate, with a fairly wide temperature range between summer and winter. The former can be stifling, while the latter is long and harsh. Snow makes travel difficult, but the scenery is sublime. Spring and autumn, on the other hand, are short and very pleasant. In principle, the best time to visit is from May to the end of October.
The climate varies from region to region: winter is mildest on the Black Sea coast, but also in Banat and Oltenia. In the west, precipitation is also higher. The Carpathians, on the other hand, remain cool and wet all year round, with the highest rainfall and coldest temperatures in the country. Maramureș and Bukovina, in the north, also experience a wetter, cooler climate than the rest of the country. In the southern plains, it can get very hot in summer. In fact, July is nicknamed "the month of the oven". In Bucharest in particular, the thermometer climbs very high. Dobrogea is arid, with little rainfall, especially in the Danube delta, which chases away the clouds. Rainfall is scarce but torrential, and there's plenty of sunshine. Summer is cooler than in the rest of the country.
Average annual temperatures are 8°C in the north, 11°C in the south and just 2°C in the Carpathians. In January, the mercury is at its lowest, averaging around - 2 to - 3°C. In summer, temperatures are high, particularly in Bucharest and Câmpia Română, where maximums sometimes reach 40°C. The country's coldest city is Miercurea Ciuc, where the annual average doesn't reach 6°C.
Annual rainfall does not exceed 700 mm. Theoretically, the periods of heaviest rainfall are May and June, while February is the driest month. Summer can also bring heavy rain. Romania is not a particularly windy country, apart from Dobrogea, where wind turbines flourish. It is estimated that windless days account for 40% of the year. In winter, however, easterly winds can be violent.
When the climate gets angry
Droughts, floods, cold snaps and heatwaves: Romania is regularly hit by climatic accidents. In the summer of 2007, for example, the country was hit by an unprecedented heat wave lasting several weeks, with record-breaking temperatures reaching over 44°C. Heatwaves now occur almost every summer. Similarly, the cold snap that hit the planet in the winter of 2009 was keenly felt in Romania too, with temperatures dropping to -34.5°C in the counties of Brașov and Covasna. Major floods have also affected the country in recent years: in 2014, 125 villages had been covered by water in less than two days. Again in 2018, several regions were severely affected by floods, in the middle of July.
At the same time, several areas in the south of the country, around Craiova, are affected by a phenomenon of desertification. The cereal-growing plains, which have lost large areas of forest, are becoming increasingly arid. Some 100,000 ha are now covered by sand, earning the region the nickname "Oltenia's Sahara". A phenomenon accentuated by global warming. This is particularly noticeable in the Danube delta and its fragile ecosystem, affecting bird migration and reproduction. Another sign is that the delta used to freeze over every winter, a rare occurrence today.
