London City Guide

When to visit London

London is a year-round tourist centre, with few of its attractions closing or significantly reducing their opening hours in winter. Your best chance of good weather is, of course, at the height of summer in July and August, but there's certainly no guarantee of sun even in those months - plus it's when you can expect the biggest crowds and highest prices.

Weather

Weather in London

Many who live in London would swear that global warming has added a twist to the city's unpredictable climatic conditions. While locals used to complain about the frequent, but still somehow always unforeseen, arrival of rain, now they find themselves faced with sudden outbreaks of sunshine and dry heat instead.

Recent summers have seen record temperatures, approaching 40°C and autumns have been positively toasty. As the tube turns into the Black Hole of Calcutta and traffic fumes become choking, London is particularly ill-equipped to cope with such heat.

However, meteorologists point out that recent statistics don't yet represent anything terribly out of the ordinary for such a naturally variable climate. The average maximum temperature for July, the hottest month, is still only about 23°C. In spring and autumn temperatures drop to between 13°C and 17°C. In winter, the average daily maximum is 8°C, the overnight minimum 2°C.

Despite the appearance of snow in the past few years, it still rarely freezes in London. What weather forecasters do predict in the long-term, as a result of climate change in London, is drier summers, wetter and stormier winters and more flash floods.

Events in London

Most businesses close on public holidays such as New Year's Day, Good Friday, Easter Monday, May Day Bank Holiday (the first Monday in May), Spring Bank Holiday (the last Monday in May), Summer Bank Holiday (the last Monday in August), Christmas Day and Boxing Day (26 December) although London's essential multiculturalism means you'll always find some shops open.

There are countless festivals and events in London. It all kicks off with the New Year's Eve fireworks and street party in Trafalgar Square, followed by the New Year's Day Parade. On Shrove Tuesday pancake races are held in Covent Garden, and in early May more serious racers take part in the London Marathon.

All London gets its colours on for the FA Cup Final in mid-May. There's even more colour at the Chelsea Flower Show, held in the last week of May.

Trooping the Colour, the Queen's birthday parade, is held in June; Wimbledon runs for two weeks in the same month and London Pride, Europe's biggest gay and lesbian festival, also hits the streets. The raucous Notting Hill Carnival takes over the West End streets in August, although there is now a smaller celebration in Hyde Park, too. In September, some 500 normally inaccessible buildings throw open their doors as part of the Open House weekend. This month, the city also celebrates its greatest natural asset with the Thames Festival on the south bank of the river.

Things wind down as the weather gets colder, though there are plenty of bonfires on Guy Fawkes Night, on the 5th of November. The Lord Mayor's Show is held in late November, complete with floats, bands and fireworks. Trafalgar Square lights up in December with the Lighting of the Christmas Tree.