Where Is Hot in December? 18 Places for Winter Sun, Ranked

Where is hot in December? The ranked list

Eighteen places we fly to in December, ranked by average daytime high. Temperatures and rain are official long-term averages; prices are our lead-in for December 2026, per person, based on two sharing, with return flights from the UK.

Prices are each holiday’s lead-in for December 2026; where a holiday is sold at more than one length, the price for your chosen number of nights is confirmed when you enquire. Agadir is priced as part of a Marrakech and Agadir trip, and that £499 applies to departures from 1 to 15 December.

Where is hot and dry in December?

Four places on the list combine an average high above 26°C with five or fewer rain days in December, and a fifth comes close:

• Bangkok — 31.3°C, 1 rain day and 10mm of rain: the driest place on the list on both rain days and rainfall.
• Dubai — 26.2°C, 2 rain days and 14.3mm. Warm rather than hot, and almost always dry.
• Southern Vietnam — Ho Chi Minh City averages 31.6°C with 5 rain days and 41mm.
• Langkawi — 31.5°C, 5 rain days and 56.2mm.
• Phuket just misses the cut on rain days, at 8.3, but has only 61.9mm of rain in the month.

Thailand is the simplest way to put a hot city and a dry beach in one December trip: our Bangkok and Phuket holiday is from £1,199 per person for seven nights.

Where is hot in December, but in the rainy season?

Some of the hottest places on the list are also among the wettest in December, and it is worth knowing before you book.

• Bali is the hottest, at 33.0°C, but averages 22 rain days and 276mm of rain in December.
• The Seychelles averages 21 rain days and 305.9mm — the highest December rainfall in the table.
• The Maldives averages 12 rain days and 216.8mm in December, about twice the rain of January.
• Sri Lanka’s Colombo averages 10 rain days and 175.3mm; Kandy, in the hills, 14 rain days.
• Mauritius averages 12 rain days and 172.0mm at Plaisance.

Tropical rain does not rule these places out — the temperatures stay high — but if a dry week matters most, Thailand, southern Vietnam, Langkawi or Dubai are the safer December choices.

Where is hot in December close to the UK?

None of the short-haul places we fly to is hot in December, and it is better to know that before you book. The warmest are the Canary Islands and the Moroccan coast, at about 22°C:

• Gran Canaria — 22.2°C, 7.1 rain days, 31.3mm.
• Tenerife — 22.1°C, 9.4 rain days, 43.2mm.
• Agadir — 22.1°C, 6 rain days, 47.4mm, but nights fall to an average of 10.1°C.
• Lanzarote — 21.8°C, 7 rain days, 29.3mm: the driest of the three Canary Islands on both measures.

That is warm enough for the beach on a sunny day and for walking in shirtsleeves, but not the heat of the long-haul list. Marrakech, inland, averages 20.2°C by day and 7.3°C at night in December, so it is a city break with sunshine rather than a beach holiday.

Where is hot at Christmas?

Everywhere on the long-haul list is hot over Christmas — the issue is price. December is the dearest month on sale for most of the holidays featured here, and January costs less than December on most of them too:

• Thailand is £1,199 per person in December 2026 and £999 in January 2027 for seven nights.
• The Maldives is £1,749 in December and £1,629 in January.
• The Seychelles is £2,299 in December and £2,049 in January.
• Barbados is £1,949 in December and £1,729 in January.

The exceptions run the other way. On Antigua and St Lucia, January costs £50 more than December, and the Marrakech and Agadir trip is at its lowest price on sale in December. If your dates can move into the new year, our where is hot in January and February guide covers the same idea a month later, and every long-haul trip we run through the winter is on the winter sun holidays page.

What is the cheapest hot holiday in December?

Short-haul: Lanzarote, from £299 per person for five nights in December 2026, at an average high of 21.8°C. Marrakech and Agadir is £499 for departures from 1 to 15 December.

Long-haul: Dubai is the cheapest, from £649 per person, at a warm and dry 26.2°C. For real heat, Bali is the cheapest at £1,099 but is in its rainy season; Thailand, from £1,199 for seven nights, is the better value for heat and dry weather together.

Travelling after Christmas instead? Our where is hot in January guide ranks the same eighteen places on January’s temperature and rain, with January 2027 prices.

December destination by destination

Thailand: Bangkok and Phuket

Bangkok averages 31.3°C with one rain day in December, and Phuket 31.5°C with 8.3 rain days and 61.9mm. Our Bangkok and Phuket holiday is from £1,199 per person for seven nights in December 2026, £1,349 for ten and £1,449 for twelve. The Thailand guide covers every month.

Southern Vietnam

Ho Chi Minh City averages 31.6°C with 5 rain days in December. The north is different: Hanoi averages 22.1°C, and Da Nang, the base for Hoi An, is in its wet season, with 21 rain days. Vietnam Discovery, nine nights from Hanoi to Saigon, is from £1,249 per person in December 2026. The Vietnam guide explains the three regions.

Langkawi and Kuala Lumpur

Langkawi averages 31.5°C with 5 rain days; Kuala Lumpur is as hot but wetter, with 15 rain days and 245.7mm. Our Kuala Lumpur and Langkawi twin centre, six or eight nights, is from £1,449 per person in December 2026.

Zanzibar

Zanzibar averages 31.4°C with 13 rain days in December. Our Zanzibar beach holiday, seven or ten nights, is from £1,699 per person in December 2026. The Zanzibar guide covers entry and the compulsory insurance.

Bali

The hottest place on the list, at 33.0°C, and one of the wettest, with 22 rain days and 276mm. Our Bali getaway, six, eight or ten nights, is from £1,099 per person in December 2026.

Sri Lanka

Colombo averages 30.3°C and Galle, on the south-west coast, 29.1°C, each with 10–12 rain days; Kandy, in the hills, is cooler at 27.8°C. Our Sri Lanka holiday through Kandy, Ella and Bentota, six, eight or ten nights, is from £1,449 per person in December 2026.

The Maldives

Malé averages 30.1°C with 12 rain days and 216.8mm in December. Our Maldives escape, seven, nine or ten nights, is from £1,749 per person in December 2026.

The Seychelles

Victoria averages 30.3°C, with 21 rain days and 305.9mm in December. Our Seychelles beach retreat, seven or ten nights, is from £2,299 per person in December 2026; the Seychelles guide sets every month’s price against the rain.

Mauritius

Plaisance averages 29.2°C with 12 rain days in December. Our Mauritius family getaway, seven or ten nights, is from £1,449 per person in December 2026.

The Caribbean

Barbados averages 29.6°C, Antigua 28.6°C and Jamaica 28.4°C in December, with 9 to 13 rain days. The hurricane season normally runs from June to November, so December falls outside it. All-inclusive weeks in December 2026 are from £1,769 per person for eight nights in Jamaica, £1,949 for seven on Barbados, and £1,999 on Antigua or St Lucia. Our Caribbean in January guide compares the four islands.

Dubai

Dubai averages 26.2°C with 2 rain days in December — warm and dry, and four hours ahead of the UK. Our Dubai city break, three, four or five nights, is from £649 per person in December 2026; the Dubai in January guide covers the month after.

The Canary Islands

Gran Canaria, Tenerife and Lanzarote all average about 22°C in December. Five nights are from £299 per person on Lanzarote, and from £489 on Tenerife and Gran Canaria, in December 2026.

Marrakech and Agadir

Agadir, on the coast, averages 22.1°C in December; Marrakech, inland, 20.2°C by day and 7.3°C at night. Our Marrakech and Agadir holiday, three nights in Marrakech then four in Agadir, is from £499 per person for departures from 1 to 15 December 2026. The Marrakech guide covers both stops.

Where the figures come from

Temperatures and rain are official long-term averages, published by each country’s national weather service, most of them through the World Meteorological Organization:

• World Meteorological Organization — Bangkok, Phuket, Ho Chi Minh City, Hanoi and Da Nang, Langkawi and Kuala Lumpur, Zanzibar, Denpasar, the Maldives, the Seychelles, Mauritius, Antigua, Jamaica, Dubai and Marrakech and Agadir; the Canary Islands from Spain’s Agencia Estatal de Meteorología (1981–2010); Colombo, Galle and Kandy from Sri Lanka’s National Meteorological Centre (1961–1990).
• Barbados — the Barbados Meteorological Services, 1991–2020.

Averaging periods differ between stations, so a difference of a few tenths of a degree is not a meaningful ranking. Zanzibar’s published rainfall figure does not sit consistently with its rain-day count, so only rain days are shown for it. St Lucia’s national figures are seasonal rather than monthly, so it is not in the ranked table. Prices are lead-in prices for December 2026, per person, based on two sharing, including return flights from the UK; GOV.UK’s guidance on the Caribbean hurricane season was checked on 1 October 2026.

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