a page of information on London’s weather including current forecast, weekly forecasts, monthly forecasts and average and extreme monthly temperatures

Current Forecasts

London Weather Forecast For The Royal Wedding

27uth April As the wind drops off on Thursady night / Friday morningtand the cloud cover thin temperatures will fallt o around 5 or 6 degrees centigrade making if feel quite chilly for anyone camped out overnight or making an early start on Friday morning. It should remain dry overnight.

A grey start is likely to Friday morning but as the sunrises much of this cloud will break up allowing sunny intervals to prevail. To the north and east of London from Breakfast time onwards there will be an increasing risk of a a short lived light shower – central London should remain dry. From mid mornig onwards temperatures will rise reaching around 12 or 13 centigrade by midday. As the temperatures rise there is increasing risk of some more wide spread showers which might be brefly heavy. These showers are most likely to occur in cental London from lunchtime onwards. Temperatures will reach around 19 centigrade in the afternoon but it will feel slighly less mild as the wind veers to the north east and increases slightly. On Friday evening the showers will become less frequent but the night be milder than of late with temperatures overnight only falling to to around 10 centigrade.

London Weather Forecast For The Second Half Of April

16th April At present the secnd half of March in London and the southeast looks like being much drier than normal with rainfall amounts below average. Temperatures will be around or slightly above average. Rainfall is a high probality over the Easter weekend particularly on Easter Day. During the last week of April temperatures may gradually warm up a little but the possibilty of showers in the afternoon if this happens will also increase.

London Annual Climate Summary

Though London’s weather can change significantly from day to day it is rarely extreme or dangerous. In central London (zones 1 & 2) the temperatures are generally 1 or 2 degrees higher than in the outer London area (zones 5 & 6). These differences are often most evident during cold weather in winter when outer areas may see snowfall which may settle on the roads etc where as central London may at worst experience wet snow which melts on impact. In the summer the combination of humidity and pollution in London can be unpleasant but it is not as severe as places like Tokyo or Beijing. However visitors to London are advised to carry ‘bottled water’ with them in hot weather if they planning to travel on the underground / metro as the temperatures here can reach 10 or fifteen degrees higher than at street level.

The weather in Britain mostly dominated by the gulf stream and jet stream which brings low pressures systems across the Atlantic. In winter these streams frequently produce mild but wet weather but in summer these conditions are not as frequent as they tend to track further north of Britain than in the winter – allowing ‘high pressure systems’ and associated settled and warmer weather to prevail.

However in winter the track of the low pressure systems across Britain can become blocked by High Pressure systems extending across the North Sea from Eastern and Northern Europe. When this happens cold easterly or north easterly winds from either the Baltic. Eastern Europe or Russia can prevail. However as the airstream passes over the North sea the sea temperatures there warm the cold air up so by the time it arrives it is several degrees warmer than when it left continental Europe. When these colder conditions prevail it may be dry but daytime temperatures may be just a above freezing and night time temperatures several degrees below freezing. However these winds may occasionally bring significant snow to outer London areas. The risk of snow is greatest between December and February.

Visitors to London should note that this city often does grind (and will probably continue to) to a halt after a few centimeters of snow. As road gritting is poor, particularly in the suburbs, bus services are often withdrawn if snow settles. Rail services including the underground (who’s rolling stock is often stationed in the open air overnight) are also very prone to suffer from cancellations and disruption either because of frozen points or heavier snow fall outside London. There are a few de-icing trains but these can breakdown if the snow is the wrong type of snow – though what the right type of snow is another question!

Transport authorities in the UK often argue that as severe weather historically only effects Britain every 18 years and the cost of preparing for such scenario’s is prohibitive. However the consecutive annual heavy snowfalls in 2009 and 2010 have challenged this attitude particularly as some scientists believe snowfall in Britain may increase as weather patterns change as a result of global warning. Whether anyone is listening though is another matter.

December January and February are the coldest months of the year with average daytime temperatures of 6 – 7 degrees. The lowest ever recorded temperature in London -10 was in in January. June July and August are the warmest months of the year with an average daily temperature of 20 – 22 degrees. However in recent years records temperatures for this months have been 33, 34 & 38 degrees respectively.

The wettest months of the year from October to February with an average of 15 wet days. November usually has more rainfall the any other month. The driest months are March to August with an average of 11 -12 wet days. However the total rainfall in March and also April is less than another month. Please see matrix chart below for further details.

Monthly Average & Extreme Weather Climate Conditions London, United Kingdom

Month	Ave, Sun (hrs)	Temperature				Relative humidity		Ave Rainfall (mm)	Wet Days (+0.25 mm)
		Average		Record
		Minimum	Maximum	Minimum	Maximum	am	pm
January	1	2	6	-10	14	86	77	54	15
February	2	2	7	-9	16	85	72	40	13
March	4	3	10	-8	21	81	64	37	11
April	5	6	13	-2	26	71	56	37	12
May	6	8	17	-1	30	70	57	46	12
June	7	12	20	5	33	70	58	45	11
July	6	14	22	7	34	71	59	57	12
August	6	13	21	6	38	76	62	59	11
September	5	11	19	3	30	80	65	49	13
October	3	8	14	-4	26	85	70	57	13
November	2	5	10	-5	19	85	78	64	15
December	1	4	7	-7	15	87	81	48	15

data supplied by the BBC & Met Office more