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Outdoor tourism and recreational activities strongly depend on actual meteorological conditions. Traditionally, in three studied regions, the peak of tourists’ streams concentrates in summer months. In the present study, we assess suitability of weather conditions for various forms of outdoor tourism in different regions of Serbia, Poland and Ukraine. Additionally, how the location of the station differentiates temporal patterns of weather suitability will be discussed. To analyse the suitability of weather conditions for various forms of outdoor recreation, we have chosen 23 meteorological stations of the national weather networks which represent different tourism areas and destinations. For each weather station, daily data for the period 2000–2017 of air temperature, relative humidity, total cloud cover and wind speed (at 10 m above ground) for 12 UTC as well as the daily maximum and minimum temperature, precipitation totals and snow cover depth were applied. Suitability of climate for outdoor recreation and tourism is assessed by the Weather Suitability Index (WSI) based on Błażejczyk’s bio-thermal weather classification. The results of research show that passive forms of recreation (sun and air bathing) are preferred mostly in months from May till August or September. For the active forms of recreation, weather in summer months is very oppressive, especially in the resorts located in the south (Serbia, southern Ukraine). Active forms of recreation are preferred there in autumn, winter and spring months. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (10.1007/s00484-020-01984-z) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.