gingerpot

Hi I will be in London on Monday. Can anyone fill me in on how cold London is? Does it usually rain most days? Is it advisable to bring an umbrella with me or a rain poncho? This is my first time to London. Is a WInd Jacket needed?
many thanks

grace_omalley

It is true that it rains almost everyday in London. You will definitely need an umbrella and a raincoat unless you are extraordinarily lucky and have good weather the whole time. This time of year the temperature will most likely be in the 50's and 60's.

nytraveler

It is inaccurate to say it rains almost every day in London. It does, in fact rain very frequently - but that mean parts - often short parts of many days - interspersed with cloudy spells and sunny intervals. Most days the weather seems to change every 3 or 4 hours.

My therory is take a tiny umbrella at all times - but usually a thin jacket with a hood is better.

It is not cold in London now - unless you're from FL or Arizona.

dsm22

Gingerpot, I was in London last year at this time. We also traveled on to Edinburgh and Glascow though. We only had one day with rain, only for a couple of hours.

Having said that I did bring a very small travel umbrella, it folds up smaller than my hand. I also wore a neutral beige raincoat, and water proofed all my shoes.

I found it to be chilly sometimes, and it sort of changed throughout the day. It was actually warmer than usual a couple of days while we were there. Maybe changeable would be fair to say.

It was also windy sometimes. I actually ended up buying a pashmina. I ended up taking it everywhere with me and it was great. I kept it foled up like a scarf over the top of my rain coat if not needed.

It was great on the buses while they were airconditioned. I am usually always cold.

I found my packing plan was perfect, I packed things to layer. I just peeled off or put on as necessary.

Have a wonderful time, wish I was going back.

BTilke

It doesn't rain almost every day in London. In fact, it's not supposed to rain at all for the next several days--it should be warm and sunny (over 20 degrees C).
Gingerpot, it's starting to warm up and through Saturday it should be beautiful. Sunday, however, the clouds are supposed to come back and it will cool off a little, with slight chance of showers, ditto for Monday (you know Monday is a holiday). Bring your umbrella and light jacket, but pack your sunglasses as well.
(I'm up extra early and here outside London, it's already fairly balmy at 5 am).

PatrickLondon

It's been mostly dry and intermittently sunny, but not particularly warm for late May - certainly cooler, especially in the evenings, than most Australians would be used to.

You can keep an eye on the BBC weather forecasts at
http://www.bbc.co.uk/weather/5day.shtml?world=0008

They're currently promising a high of 25/26 for Friday and Saturday, dropping to 20 (low of 13) with some rain on Sunday. Don't bother with heavy outer things - as ever, layers are the most sensible way to cope with all possible variations - I've been OK with adding an undershirt and a lined cotton jacket. A light rain cover that can keep folded away for emergencies should be enough.

m_kingdom2

If you want to look a joke then wear a "rain poncho", otherwise please do as the rest of us do and use an umbrella.

It's not Antartica so no "wind jacket" is required.

Wear cottons, summer cashmere, light jackets, and if you want to wear short sleeves, make sure you've a jacket on top.

gingerpot

Thanks for the replies. Only 3 sleeps to go! To m_kingdom2 I did have to laugh as I had packed one of those plastic rain Ponchos's! The fold up umbrella is definately going! Might have to think hard on the rain poncho now!! We in Australia are coming into our Winter, cooler nights so I imagine the weather to be similar for both of us at this time.
thanks again

grace_omalley

Maybe me and my family just had bad luck weatherwise when we were in London. We were there for ten days in February and we had one sunny day and one half sunny day. Otherwise it rained and rained and snowed too. My daughter lived there for a summer and it was cool and wet the whole time. The sun did come out a couple of days and the entire population of London was out sunning themselves in the parks. Despite the weather we loved London!

logandog

In London March 2005 for six days, it rained for twenty minutes. You just never know.

celticdreams

I will never again laugh at those plastic ponchos. I was in DC on Friday, trying to go to an air show (that ended up being cancelled for the most part). We stopped on the way there and bought an umbrella, I looked at the ponchos, but said, oh no - wouldn't be caught dead.....

On to the AF base. It was pouring like I've never seen outside the tropics, it was about 42F and the winds were coming at about 50mph. I would have happily slapped someone for his/her poncho. By the time I got to the hangar, I was soaked (my new Italian shoes were literally squishing with water - had to pour them out) - from the shoulders down.

I will never travel without one of those ponchos again.

Scarlett

A rain poncho meaning plastic like a ziplock bag? or a raincoat sort of poncho? or why not just pack a raincoat?

We have been truly blessed on all of our London trips, including the March trip where it had been freezing cold and warmed up to the 50s for our arrival..I worried about a rainy day so bought an umbrella once I got there. I never used it once.
gingerpot, I hope you have the same good luck~

janis

grace_omalley:

<<It is true that it rains almost everyday in London.>>

That is most definitely not the case.

But I see your visit was 10 days in February. The middle of winter is a LOT different than late May/early June! Perhaps your next trip should be during the Spring/Summer.

mousireid

Mon
May 30 Scattered Showers
62°/47°
Tue
May 31 Partly Cloudy
66°/48°
Wed
Jun 1 Scattered Showers
64°/50°
Thu
Jun 2 Light Rain
66°/52°

Thats teh weather from Mon-Thurs from the Weather Channel

PatrickLondon

For Australians that's highs of 16-19C, lows of 9-12C.