Sri Lanka

What's the weather like in Sri Lanka in October?

Sri Lanka’s an island nation around 30km off the southeast coast of India. It has a tropical climate with two monsoon seasons; the northeast monsoon from October to February and the southwest from May to August. The south central region’s mountainous which has a big impact on the weather as well as the Indian Ocean’s warm waters and the huge landmass of the Indian subcontinent. October’s the first month of the northeast monsoon season and you'll get the most rain in the north east. The south west’s the wettest region in general while the northwest and southeast coasts are usually the driest. Capital Colombo on the west coast has similar amounts of rain in each monsoon.

Averages

The average high in Colombo is 30ºC in October, which drops to 24ºC at night. The sea temperature’s 28ºC, so it’s lovely for swimming, while humidity’s high. You won’t need to bring warm clothes with you although a waterproof top’s a good idea as there’s 371mm of rain over 16 days. You can expect 12 hours of daylight each day with six hours of sunshine at an extremely high UV level, so don't forget to use plenty of sun cream. The sun goes down around 6pm.