Bhutan Climate Zone

Bhutan experiences four seasons but its climate can vary suddenly because of the extremely hilly and mountainous topography.

Along the southern foothills, adjoining the Indian plains, the climate is hot and humid for most part of the year and cool and pleasant in winter.

In the central valleys, spring and autumn is warm bordering on hot but winters can get biting cold and summers see a lot of rain leading to blocked highways and swollen rivers. Western Bhutan particularly gets a lot of rain during the monsoon months of June to early September.

In the higher regions summers are cool and winters are extremely cold with trekking trails snowed up for many months.

Broadly, Bhutan has three climatic zones: sub tropical in the south, temperate in the middle and sub alpine to the north.

The best time to visit Bhutan is in spring and autumn. In spring the country’s abundant variety of wild flowers start to bloom n giving its natural forests an almost magical feel.

In autumn, the paddy fields in the agricultural valleys of western and central Bhutan turn to golden brown signaling the approach of harvest time.

Both these seasons are blessed with plenty of sunshine and clear skies making it ideal for a cultural, trekking, or birding. Some of the major religious festivals are also held during these two seasons.

In the valleys of Thimphu and Paro in western Bhutan, daytime average temperature is around 20 degree Celsius during winter but drops well below freezing point at night. These valleys, including the central valley of Bumthang, experience snowfall in winter.

Punakha and Wangdue valleys tend to be much warmer and pleasant in winter.

Below are the average temperatures in different districts.