Africa - Location and Climate Africa stretches beyond the tropics of Cancer and Capricorn. At its heart, and in the north-west, the climate is typically tropical – hot and humid all year round, with a heavy rainy season throughout the high summer and a cooler, drier season through winter. But proximity to the Equator means day length hardly varies throughout the year. As elevation increases to the south and east, the climate becomes drier and a little cooler, although the wet and dry seasons persist. The limited seasonality naturally reverses, either side of the Equator. Back | Next