England in August?
 

We have the chance to go to England the last two weeks of August. Is this a good or bad time to go?

As good as any other time. Some tourist sites will be more crowded than at other times.

England is a big place -- any particular regions?

Not sure exactly if we'll stay in southern England or try to go all over. I was mainly concerned about huge crowds that time of year or weather concerns.

London has the huge crowds. England has the unpredictable weather.

What are your weather concerns? It is an island and the weather changes every day - sometimes several times a day. The weather in London, Cornwall, and Yorkshire can and probably will be entirely different on any particular day

Huge crowds only apply to specific sites (like the Tower of London . . . And it is crowded year round)

Your questions are really very broad/vague.

A lot of Brits leave Britain in August for their holidays and a lot of foreigners turn up. Crowds will be at some festivals and there are a few days when roads get a bit busy (there is a bank holiday at the end of August so the roads may be worse on the Friday before then as people go on tour).

But basically the only issue will be hotel availability and price, however if you are booking now there should not be a problem, if you wait until early August you will get what everyone else didn't want.

London is a big place with lots of centres to visit so if something is "on" one day, just go to another area.

Weather, the world's very best computers can just about work out the weather in the UK two days out and you want to know about August...

Here's one American who likes English weather. Southeast England has the warmest and driest weather, and August is the warmest month. No guarantees though — as janisj wrote, the weather is very changeable here.

The only way to avoid the crowds is to avoid the tourist spots, and you won't want to do that. British schools have their summer break in August, and those families who don't travel abroad often head for the seaside resorts.

>>Here's one American who likes English weather.<<

Me too . . . And I live in <i>California</i>. Give me a nice summer shower followed by 75F over 3 straight weeks of sunshine/heat any time.

>>Here's one American who likes English weather.<<

>>Me too . . . And I live in California. Give me a nice summer shower followed by 75F over 3 straight weeks of sunshine/heat any time.<<

We should form a club.

You only like it because you don't have this weather all the time. 75 = 23 celsius. The average for London in July and August is 19, or 66f.

I see that it is around the 70s in LA today. Expecting snow this week in Antwerp :-(

Actually I like 65F better than the 95F we would have at that time of year.

I am here all the time and I like the weather. Even the rain. :-)

<<Me too . . . And I live in California. Give me a nice summer shower followed by 75F over 3 straight weeks of sunshine/heat any time.>>

Come on now, California is not universal. If you lived in San Diego, you'd never extol the weather anywhere else. If you lived in Death Valley . . . you'd have to be a snake to enjoy.

Well, I live here all the time too, and have for about 40 years. I don't miss the subzero winter temperatures in Wisconsin where I grew up, nor the 100F summer temperatures of Texas where I lived for several years. A little more sunshine would be nice, though!

I was mainly concerned about huge crowds that time of year or weather concerns.>>

Personally I wouldn't worry about either of those and I live here too.

Tell us what you're thinking of doing, and we can be a bit more specific.

>>Come on now, California is not universal. If you lived in San Diego, you'd never extol the weather anywhere else.<<

The weather in SD is lovely -- but that is it -- it is lovely pretty much year round. No seasons to speak of. For sure I would like SD better then England in January.

I have been to London ( and thereabouts) five times now.

Only once was it not in july or august. ( the one off was in March. and that was cold, rainly and it sleeted.. yikes)

It rained or was cool for all four of those summer visits.. but NOT everyday.

We did a daytrip to Brighton and were amused to see how crowded the beach was.. and how many folks hopped over the rocks to get into the water.. when temps could not have been more then 21, ( or 70) .. we sat down on rocks in our sweaters and watched the locals obvious enjoyment of the "good " weather.. lol

We are going to London again in less then two weeks. We are bringing a rainjacket with a warmth layer to put under it.. cardigan or lightweight jacket. If we hit some nicer weather.. ( which you never know.. we could) we can just remove a few layers.

I would be happy to visit London again in summer.. but late spring is best we got this year.. maybe we will be surprised.. London does on occasion have "heat waves" ( we have friends who live just outside London, and they told us so !)

"For sure I would like SD better then England in January."

I wouldn't.

Crisp mornings. Empty footpaths. Dogs discovering the world smells differently today (when it's frosty) from how it smelt yesterday (when it was a few degrees above). Watching frost melt as the sun hits the grass.

Never a hint of the sub-Arctic horrors most of America accepts as normal in winter. A house kept warm throughout by a boiler about the size of an A4 sheet of paper - topped up at night by a wood-burning stove: fuel paid for entirely by the taxpayer.

On roughly half the days in January, I wouldn't want to be anywhere else. On more or less every day of the year, our idyllic weather (never too too hot, never too cold, never as wet as New York and always different from yesterday) reminds us all that God is an Englishwoman. Who can't see why anyone could possibly give a rat's fart what the weather's like, because it's always interesting

To be fair -- I do prefer English weather most of the rest of the year.

We are going to London again in less then two weeks. We are bringing a rainjacket with a warmth layer to put under it.. cardigan or lightweight jacket. If we hit some nicer weather.. ( which you never know.. we could) we can just remove a few layers. >>

Very wise, there's a cold wind blowing down from the north at the moment which makes it quite cool even in the sunshine unless you can find a sheltered spot. it looks set to continue the week after, but I'm not sure about the week after that.