August trip - where would not be above 85 degrees or so

where the temperature will probably not go above 85

Do you mean peak temperature of day or average temperature from noon to early evening?

Which period in August? Beginning or end?

Of course first idea look to Scandinavia but no one can guarantee that this temp is not reached, also not around polar circle - see Norway forum of last August.

Scotland, maybe?

Or go south, really far south: Australia / NZ where it is winter in August...

Northern Germany? It was hot periodically in summer the last few years, but never for really extended periods.

But there aren't really any guarantees. I spent the last week of July / first week of August 2024 and 2025 on an East Frisian island. 2024 was mid-high 20s (Celsius) and gorgeous. 2025 was somewhat sunny for the weekends at either end, and then about 15C and wet during the week. Maximum. I ended up buying two new hoodies to wear under my rain gear. Now, holidaying in East Frisia is a chancy business weather-wise at the best of times, but that was a new low. Had it been my only holiday of the year, I would have been furious.

Basque region generally has temperate weather.

Temperatures above 85 F would be very unusual in these areas:

Iceland
Scotland
England
Wales
Ireland
Belgium
Netherlands
Normandy and Brittany
North coast of Spain
Norway
Finland
Estonia
Latvia
Lithuania
At altitude in mountainous areas

I think Denmark would also be OK. Maybe also far northern Germany and Poland (Gdansk, etc.) but I haven't dug into the weather statistics for those areas.

Using monthly averages isn't sufficient for answering this question. Instead, use a website where you can see actual, historical, day-by-day temperatures, and check several recent years. I use timeanddate.com.

As an example:

Copenhagen weather -- August 2025

Use the pull-down box at the right, just above the graph, to find data for other years. Use the Search box at the upper right to check out other places.

I do not promise zero days above 85F in the places I've listed; I know I had a couple of hot days in Brittany a few years ago. But hot weather is very unusual in the places on my list, so it's not something you'd run into for a large part of your trip even in a bad year.

Thank you so much for all these great ideas. Now it is just a matter of researching and narrowing it down.

I am not a fan of warm weather, so we often go to Iceland. In August it can get quite warm, or not it really varies. However 85 degrees is rare, even though we had that for one day, once. Usually 75 or so is the highest. What about Greenland? We did that in conjunction with Iceland this past August and it was fabulous! There is so much to do and see in both areas.

One of our favorite trips was spending two weeks in a campervan along the ring road in Iceland. It was in July and I wore a sweatshirt almost every day!

cindyeb--That is such a fun way to go! We did that on one of our trips and absolutely loved it.

I spent the last two Augusts in Scotland. On some days, I had to wear a light jacket. My ffiends who live there were complaining it was too hot when it hit 75 degrees Farenheit.