Climate in London (Greater London, United Kingdom)

The best time of year to visit London in the United Kingdom

London experiences a temperate maritime climate. This climate type is characterized by a tempered temperature because of the nearby sea water. In summer, the cooler seawater ensures that it is not extremely hot. In winter months, the relatively warm seawater ensures that the risk of extreme cold is much lower.

London has the image always to be wet and gray. But if you look at the whole of the United Kingdom, London is actually one of the most sunny and dry cities in the country. With a quantity of rain that comes out below six hundred millimetres per year, London is drier than for example Rome. With a number of hours of sunshine that averages around fifteen hundred a year, London is not to be called extremely sunny but it is not to bad as well.

Summers have pleasant temperatures with average high temperatures around 23 degrees Celsius (73.4°Fahrenheit) and night temperatures of 13 degrees Celsius (55.4°F). Winters in London are cold, but the temperature is hardly below freezing. Snow occurs sometimes in winter but rarely settles more than a few millimetres deep.

Springs is a great period to visit London. During the day it is nice and warm, however in the evenings it is still very cool. In autumn months it can occasionally storm. The rainfall is evenly spread throughout the year.

During the months of June, July and August you are most likely to experience good weather with pleasant average temperatures that fall between 20 degrees Celsius (68°F) and 26 degrees Celsius (79°F).

Other facts from our historical climate data:

Which is the warmest month in London?
July has an average maximum temperature of 23°C (73°F) and is the warmest month of the year.

Which is the coldest month in London?
The coldest month is January with an average maximum temperature of 9°C (48°F).

Which is the wettest month in London?
November tops the wettest month list with 68mm (2.7in) of rainfall.

Which is the driest month in London?
March is the driest month with 48mm (1.9in) of precipitation.

Which is the sunniest month in London?
July is the sunniest month with an average of 219 hours of sunshine.

No idea where to travel to this year? We now have a tool which suggests which destination suits your ideal climate conditions. Find out where to go with our weather planner.