What is the average temperature in London?
The average temperature is highest between June and August (that’s when London sees a bit of sun), but you don’t have to worry about extreme temperatures. The average during the summer is only around 20°C, and it rarely gets above 30° for more than a few days.
During the spring and autumn it is more like 12°. The average temperature in the winter will be somewhere around 5°.
| Average temperature | |
|---|---|
| January | 2° to 6° |
| February | 2° to 7° |
| March | 3° to 10° |
| April | 6° to 13° |
| May | 8° to 17° |
| June | 12° to 20° |
| July | 14° to 22° |
| August | 13° to 21° |
| September | 11° to 19° |
| October | 8° to 14° |
| November | 5° to 10° |
| December | 4° to 7° |
When are the sunrise and sunset times?
| Sunrise to Sunset times | |
|---|---|
| January | 8.00 AM to 4.20 PM |
| February | 7.15 AM to 5.15 PM |
| March | 6.15 AM to 6.00 PM |
| April | 6.10 AM to 7.55 PM |
| May | 5.10 AM to 8.45 PM |
| June | 4.45 AM to 9.20 PM |
| July | 5.00 AM to 9.15 PM |
| August | 5.45 AM to 8.25 PM |
| September | 6.35 AM to 7.20 PM |
| October | 7.25 AM to 6.05 PM |
| November | 7.15 AM to 4.15 PM |
| December | 8.00 AM to 3.55 PM |
What is the average rainfall in London?
| Number of rainy days | |
|---|---|
| January | 10 days |
| February | 7 days |
| March | 9 days |
| April | 8 days |
| May | 8 days |
| June | 8 days |
| July | 6 days |
| August | 6 days |
| September | 8 days |
| October | 9 days |
| November | 9 days |
| December | 10 days |
London has earned itself a rainy reputation, and whilst it does experience some heavy downpours most of its rain is spotty and light. The average number of rainy days each month is typically between 8 and 10.
Falling snow is relatively common in central London, but settled snow is rare because of all the warm buildings and heavy traffic. If snow is going to come, then it will most likely come in January and February.
Fortunately London doesn’t suffer from any of the more exotic weather conditions, so you won’t get ravaged by a tornado, hurricane, earthquake or an erupting volcano. It does occasionally see thunder and lightning though, so it’s not all boring.
Time difference to other countries
London is at the centre of Greenwich Mean Time – have you been to see the meridian line at the Royal Observatory – so every country in the world is either plus or minus the UK.
But unfortunately it isn’t quite as simple as that, because from late-March to late-October the UK switches to British Summer Time, which is GMT+1 hour. The exact dates when the clocks change can be found on our calendar diary dates page.
So when you consult the following table remember to minus an extra hour if British Summer Time applies.
| ± hours | ± hours | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Accra | ± 0 | Amsterdam | + 1 |
| Ankara | + 2 | Athens | + 2 |
| Atlanta | − 5 | Auckland | + 12 |
| Baghdad | + 3 | Bangkok | + 7 |
| Barcelona | + 1 | Beijing | + 8 |
| Belfast | ± 0 | Belgrade | + 1 |
| Berlin | + 1 | Berne | + 1 |
| Bogata | − 5 | Bombay | + 5½ |
| Bonn | + 1 | Brasilia | − 3 |
| Brussels | + 1 | Budapest | + 1 |
| Buenos Aires | − 3 | Cairo | + 2 |
| Calcutta | + 5½ | Calgary | − 7 |
| Cape Town | + 2 | Caracas | − 4½ |
| Chicago | − 6 | Copenhagen | + 1 |
| Damascus | + 2 | Dar-es-Salaam | + 3 |
| Darwin | + 9½ | Delhi | + 5½ |
| Denver | − 7 | Dublin | ± 0 |
| Edinburgh | ± 0 | Frankfurt | + 1 |
| Geneva | + 1 | Glasgow | ± 0 |
| Havana | − 5 | Helsinki | + 2 |
| Hong Kong | + 8 | Honolulu | − 10 |
| Houston | − 6 | Istanbul | + 2 |
| Jerusalem | + 2 | Johannesburg | + 2 |
| Karachi | + 5 | Kuala Lumpur | + 8 |
| Kuwait | + 3 | Lagos | + 1 |
| Lisbon | ± 0 | Los Angeles | − 8 |
| Madrid | + 1 | Manila | + 8 |
| Melbourne | + 10 | Mexico City | − 6 |
| Montréal | − 5 | Moscow | + 3 |
| Mumbia | + 5½ | Muscat | + 4 |
| Nairobi | + 3 | New York | − 5 |
| Oslo | + 1 | Ottawa | − 5 |
| Paris | + 1 | Perth | + 8 |
| Prague | + 1 | Pretoria | + 2 |
| Quebec | − 5 | Reykjavik | ± 0 |
| Rio de Janeiro | − 3 | Riyadh | + 3 |
| Rome | + 1 | San Francisco | − 8 |
| Santiago | − 4 | Seoul | + 9 |
| Shanghai | + 8 | Singapore | + 8 |
| St. Louis | − 6 | St. Petersburg | + 3 |
| Stockholm | + 1 | Sydney | + 10 |
| Tokyo | + 9 | Tripoli | + 2 |
| Toronto | − 5 | Vancouver | − 8 |
| Vienna | + 1 | Vladivostok | + 11 |
| Warsaw | + 1 | Washington | − 5 |
| Wellington | + 12 | Zurich | + 1 |