The Netherlands is located in 2 time zones: Central European Time and Atlantic Standard Time. Amsterdam, as the whole country's European mainland, lies in the Central European Time (CET), UTC +1. Amsterdam is 1 hour ahead of the Royal Borough of Greenwich, UK.

Amsterdam has an Oceanic climate with prevailing westerly winds. While summers being quite mild and warm, winters may get occasionally cold.

The humidity level is high here due to the heat-island effect caused by the fact the Amsterdam is surrounded by large bodies of water. However, the temperature here falls rarely below −5 °C (23 °F).

The extreme temperatures range from −19.7 °C (−3.5 °F) to 35.7 °C (96.3 °F). The period from October through March is regarded as the coolest months of the year.

The amount of sunshine in Amsterdam is low from November to February, however, it becomes better from May to August. Therefore, the best time to visit the city is rather mid-may or mid-September.