It covers an area of just 8,019 sq miles (20,770 sq km) – the same size as Wales – yet Israel has a surprisingly wide range of climatic zones. The north, which includes the city of Tel Aviv as well as the biblical region of Galilee, has a Mediterranean climate with warm, sunny summers and mild, wet winters, giving the landscape a lush green appearance. Typical temperatures here range from the low 30Cs in summer to the high teens in winter.
In the extreme north of the country, on the borders with Lebanon and Syria, the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights and Mount Hermon have a much cooler climate with enough snow in the winter months for a thriving ski resort. Roughly in the centre, Jerusalem is also very warm and dry in summer, but much cooler and wetter in winter.
In the far south, on the Gulf of Aqaba at the northern tip of the Red Sea, lies the holiday resort of Eilat. Here it is dry, sunny and warm all year round, with very hot summers and virtually no rain. If rain falls at all, it does so between December and March. Eilat lies at the southern end of the Negev desert, which covers more than half of the country’s land area, and is also very dry.
