Clothing Needed - June in UK and Ireland
 

Hello all, we're in countdown mode, 2 weeks until our trip to England, Scotland and Ireland. We'll be there almost the entire month of June. I'm sure I'll be posting lots of questions the next few weeks, here's one:

In Great Britain, we'll be in London a good deal, also going as far north as Edinburgh, and as far south as Portsmouth and Dover. In Ireland, most of the time on the west coast, also a few days in Dublin. Is the weather essentially the same in June in all these places? I think I've seen on the Ireland board that most Fodorites recommend long pants and a waterproof windbreaker, and leave the shorts at home...same for England and Scotland? (I live in NY and when the shorts go on in May, thats usually all I wear until mid September!)

Thanks for the advice as always.

My friend packed his shorts when we went to London last year on the final days of July. Of course, he wears them almost every day here in Spain...but they didn't use them a single day in London :) It was very pleasant, even sunny..but not enough for shorts.
Scotland is cooler than London, so..:)

Sorry, I meant "he didn't use them" :)

Pack for the "layered look"--T-shirt, long-sleeve shirt, light sweater, long pants, light jacket, light gloves, cap--and add or remove as necessary. The weather can change several times during the day, not just from day to day.

It is possible to get hot weather in southern england - but is quite rare - I wouldn;t bother brining shorts on the off chance. And I've never seen temps in Ireland above about 70. And we were in Scotland once in July and it was in the high 40's (locals were wearing gloves and hats) and pouring rain for 2 days - then jumped up to the 60's.

Why not check the weather the day before you leave - and if it looks like a hot spell throw in a pair or two.

Do you know that areas of western Scotland can sucessfully grow Palm trees?

The weather in the UK and Ireland really can't be forecasted as TimS said take layers - a light waterproof jacket that can be store in your backpack is a good idea.

I personally would wear jeans and a short sleeved t-shirt with a long sleeved shirt over the top and the afore mentioned waterproof.

If it's wet wear the waterproof, if it's warm wear the shirt as a thin jacket, if it's hot take off the shirt and wear the t-shirt. I don't think that wearing long trousers is as uncomfortable as wearing too many layers on top.

or you could buy the trousers that you can unzip and turn into shorts.

According to weather.com the temps next week are going to be in the low 60's

Whatever you wear you will have fun - please post a trip report :-)

There've been people wearing shorts round London for the past month or so - and this has been an exceptionally wet and chilly spring so far.

It's not at all uncommon for it to get unpleasantly stuffy in London by June. I'd be amazed if I went through the whole month without wearing shorts at some point.

It's also rather odd to expect a bunch of strangers on this board to be able to predict your comfort levels. But I'd say it'd be foolish to spend a summer month in London without bringing (or buying) shorts.

Expect cooler and damper weather as well on your travels, and bring clothes for that too.