Best Time to Visit Uttar Pradesh

The winter months from October to March are the very best for a visit to the plains of Uttar Pradesh as the summers are too hot and dry for comfort. For those interested in travelling up to the hills in Uttaranchal, April, May, June and October and November are the best months for a cool getaway from the heat and dust of the plains.

Climate

The climate in Uttar Pradesh varies substantially. Where the Himalayan range rises over 7700 metres, the upper reaches remain perennially snow-bound. The Gangetic plain, which covers three-quarters of the state, is dry and dusty in summer. But during the monsoons between June and September, it is transformed into carpets of lush green fields. The monsoons also spell disaster for some regions, when the Ganga and its tributaries overflow their banks and flood large tracts of land.

Winter is severe in the foothills of the Himalayas in Kumaon and Garhwal. The Gangetic plains are fairly cold with temperatures coming down as low as 3°C though average temperatures remain around a pleasant 18°C. Summers are extremely hot in the plains with maximum temperatures reaching as high as 45° C. The intensity of the summer months is magnified by the hot winds called ‘loo’ that blows across the plains in May and June, the two hottest months of the year.