Today's weather for Sunny Beach, Bulgaria9th Feb 2010 11:30

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Weather Overview for Sunny Beach

Sunny Beach – could this be a holiday destination? Well you’ve hit the nail on the noggin as Sunny Beach is Bulgaria’s most popular seaside resort, sitting in an enviable location on the Blacksea coast, 35 km north of the larger coastal city of Bourgas.

Sunny Beach is home to over 500 hotels, which sleep more than 110,000 tourists, and there are over 130 restaurants to fill the thousands of bellies that come with them. The resort town is home to a very small permanent population and mostly shuts down out of season.

The resort is home to a spectacular 8km long golden sandy beach that is 30 to 60m wide in parts. It stretches around an east-facing semicircular bay. The water is shallow far from the beach making it family-friendly. The beach has also been awarded a coveted Blue Flag, a testament to its cleanliness and good management. It is one of the only places along the Black Sea coast where you can still find sand dunes.

Most of Bulgaria has a continental climate; Sunny Beach witnesses a more moderate climate due to the influence of the Black Sea. The weather could be classified as moderate continental, though it also exhibits qualities of a Mediterranean climate - hot dry summers and cooler mild winters. Sunny Beach lies in close proximity to mountain ranges. The fresh air that blows down from the mountain peaks is devoid of pollution. The World Health Organisation recognises the Sunny Beach region as having one of the healthiest microclimates in the world.

Summer is the best time to visit the area, as the weather is fantastic and the town bustles with activity. June and September see an average temperatures around 20°C. It picks up to an average daily temperature of 22°C in July and August. In terms of what you will actually experience, this means that in early and late summer you can expect it to get into the low 20s, while in the peak months of July and August you’re sure to see temperatures in the high 20s every day. The breeze off the Black Sea provides relief from the heat in the afternoons. The sea temperature is a pleasant 20°C to 23°C, which is slightly cooler than in the Mediterranean. During this time there are 8 to 11 hours of sunlight during the day, and rainfall is moderate but falls on only a few days each month.

It can rain any time of the year in Sunny Beach, and the locals will tell you when it rains, it pours, so you may be stuck inside for a few hours waiting for the downpour to finish. Rainfall varies little across the year, unlike in Mediterranean resorts which see no rain in the summer and heavy rain in winter. Rainfall levels are moderate, slightly lower than in London, but unlike in the UK rain falls infrequently in heavy downpours. Afterwards the sky clears and you will be treated to days and days of sunshine.

Winters in Sunny Beach get quite chilly, with an average daily temperature of 2°C in January, and 3°C and 4°C in February and December respectively. Hours of daily sunlight fall to 5 to 6 hours, and the sea temperature cools right down to 7°C at its lowest.

The shoulder seasons of spring and autumn can be good times to visit as there aren’t as many tourists, accommodation is cheaper and the temperatures are still pleasant. May and October see average highs of 21°C and 19°C respectively. Night times are refreshingly cool. Spring is much sunnier than autumn but the sea doesn’t really warm up until June.

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