These are national capitals ranked by annual mean temperature, using official 1991–2020 climate normals. Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia, is commonly called the coldest national capital in the world, and the numbers agree: its 0.2°C (32.4°F) annual mean is the lowest here, 3.7°C below second-placed Astana. This ranks the typical year-round temperature of capital cities, not the lowest temperature ever recorded and not the coldest inhabited places. Figures are as of November 2026.
Pictured: Reykjavík, Iceland, from a Rick Steves’ Europe travel bite; it is #3 with a 5.1°C annual mean. Ulaanbaatar (#1) has no video here.
| Rank | Capital | Country | Annual mean (°C) | Annual mean (°F) | Coldest month mean (°C) | Normals period | Continent |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ulaanbaatar | Mongolia | 0.2 | 32.4 | −21.3 | 1991–2020 | Asia |
| 2 | Astana | Kazakhstan | 3.9 | 39.0 | −14.5 | 1991–2020 | Asia |
| 3 | Reykjavík | Iceland | 5.1 | 41.2 | 0.5 | 1991–2020 | Europe |
| 4 | Moscow | Russia | 6.3 | 43.3 | −6.2 | 1991–2020 | Europe |
| 5 | Tallinn | Estonia | 6.3 | 43.3 | −3.6 | 1991–2020 | Europe |
| 6 | Helsinki | Finland | 6.5 | 43.7 | −3.8 | 1991–2020 | Europe |
| 7 | Ottawa | Canada | 6.8 | 44.2 | −9.6 | 1991–2020 | North America |
| 8 | Minsk | Belarus | 6.9 | 44.4 | −4.3 | 1991–2020 | Europe |
| 9 | Oslo | Norway | 7.0 | 44.6 | −2.3 | 1991–2020 | Europe |
| 10 | Vilnius | Lithuania | 7.2 | 45.0 | −3.7 | 1991–2020 | Europe |
| 11 | Stockholm | Sweden | 7.9 | 46.2 | −1.0 | 1991–2020 | Europe |
| 12 | Riga | Latvia | 8.0 | 46.4 | −2.1 | 1991–2020 | Europe |
| 13 | Kyiv | Ukraine | 9.0 | 48.2 | −3.2 | 1991–2020 | Europe |
No matching rows.
As of November 2026. Every figure is a 1991–2020 climate normal: the mean of the daily mean temperature at one station per capital, from the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) normals archive held by NOAA’s National Centers for Environmental Information, except Vilnius (Lithuanian Hydrometeorological Service, same period). Fahrenheit values are converted from the Celsius figure. Stations are the capital’s official one (Tallinn’s Harku and Ottawa’s CDA station are outside the centre; Astana’s is listed as Nur-Sultan); a different station in the same city can differ by a few tenths of a degree. Moscow and Tallinn tie at 6.3°C, so they are ordered by the unrounded mean of their twelve monthly normals. Only sovereign states’ capitals are ranked: Nuuk (Greenland) and Tórshavn (Faroe Islands) are territorial capitals and left out. This is not a survey of every capital; it covers the northern and continental capitals usually named as coldest, and warmer ones (such as Kyiv at 9.0°C, the last row) are not tabulated. Rows 11–13 draw on the sources in note 12.[1][12]
Ulaanbaatar is the only capital in this table with an annual mean near freezing, 0.2°C (32.4°F) at the WMO station at 1,303 m above sea level.[2] Five months average below 0°C (November to March), January averages −21.3°C, and the gap between January and July (19.0°C) is 40.3°C, the widest in the table.[2] The city is commonly called the coldest national capital in the world, a claim this table supports.[2][13]
Astana (listed in the WMO data under its former name, Nur-Sultan) averages 3.9°C (39.0°F) over 1991–2020, with January at −14.5°C and July at 20.6°C.[3] Like Ulaanbaatar, it has five months with a below-freezing mean, and its station sits at 347 m above sea level.[3]
Reykjavík is the surprise of the table: it ranks third on annual mean but has the mildest winter, with February (0.5°C) its coldest month, so no month in the 1991–2020 normals averages below freezing.[4] Its summers are cool too, with July at 11.6°C, which is why its annual mean stays low.[4] The video is a Rick Steves’ Europe travel bite on the city.
Moscow’s WMO station (27612) gives an annual mean of 6.3°C (43.3°F), with January at −6.2°C and July at 19.7°C.[5] It is tied on the rounded figure with Tallinn; Moscow is placed first because the average of its twelve monthly normals is slightly lower.[5][6] Five months average below freezing.[5]
Tallinn’s normals come from the Harku station west of the centre and give 6.3°C (43.3°F), with February (−3.6°C) slightly colder than January (−2.9°C).[6] Four months average below freezing, and the Baltic keeps its summers cool, with July at 17.6°C.[6] The video is a Rick Steves’ Europe travel bite on the Old Town.
Helsinki’s Kaisaniemi station, in the city centre, averages 6.5°C (43.7°F).[7] February (−3.8°C) is the coldest month, a little colder than January (−3.1°C), and four months average below freezing.[7] The video is a Rick Steves’ Europe travel bite on the city.
Ottawa has the coldest winter of any capital here after Ulaanbaatar and Astana, with January at −9.6°C, but its warm summer (July 21.2°C, the warmest July of the top 10) lifts the annual mean to 6.8°C (44.2°F).[8] The figures are Environment and Climate Change Canada’s 1991–2020 normals for the Ottawa CDA station.[8]
Minsk averages 6.9°C (44.4°F), with January at −4.3°C and July at 18.5°C; three months average below freezing.[9] The video is a Euronews city tour of Minsk from an earlier year, so the sights it shows may have changed.
Oslo’s Blindern station averages 7.0°C (44.6°F) over 1991–2020, with January at −2.3°C and July at 17.7°C.[10] Only three months, December to February, average below freezing.[10] The video is a Rick Steves’ Europe travel bite on the city.
Vilnius averages 7.2°C (45.0°F), with January at −3.7°C and July at 18.5°C.[11] It is the one row not taken from the WMO archive, which has no Lithuanian stations: it uses the Lithuanian Hydrometeorological Service’s own 1991–2020 normals, as quoted in Wikipedia’s climate table for the city.[11]