Worldwide demand for fresh water reveals a pressing need to develop desalination techniques, which are environmentally friendly, economical and simple. The present study is aimed to evaluate the winter performance of a solar humidification dehumidification desalination unit in Famagusta, Northern Cyprus. Besides, finding the optimal flow rates for both water and air streams are the objectives of the implement. The unit under study consists of a solar air heater, a cascading evaporator, a finned condenser and an auxiliary water heater. In this experiment an open-air open-water technique is applied. The air is heated by means of a solar air heater before entering the evaporator. The effect of heating the water at the inlet of the evaporator is also explored. The electrical fan, which is installed at the air-exit of the condenser, has a variable speed drive for adjusting the flow rate of air. The solar air heater is placed at 20° deviations from true south to the east and a tilt angle of 45°. During the experiment it is observed that the maximum productivity of potable water is achievable in higher flow rates of water and lower flow rates of air. The maximum productivity achieved in this experiment is 1.55 Lt/day.m², while the flow rate of air is 1.5 m³/min and the water flow rate is 4 Lt/min.