Rain gear?

I'm not a big poncho fan. I like a waterPROOF jacket. I did the Best Of England tour a couple of years ago and have been to London a number of times and I always have a waterproof jacket with me. There were a couple of times that we had a drenching rain in mid-Sept - on one of the days in Bath, the hiking day in Cotswolds and part of the day in Keswick. It did not dampen anyone's enthusiasm!!

FWIW, I always take a waterproof jacket to Europe. I started with a Marmot Precip but decided it was more slim cut that was not comfortable over layers so I'm now using a jacket from Cabelas.

I would take a water proof jacket with hood. You may not even need it. Was in the Uk for a month in September a couple years ago, only had one morning that it rained for a couple hours.

I am one who thinks water proof is overkill for most travel. I think a more stylish water resistant or leather jacket is fine. I carry a tiny waterproof poncho in my bag, and by tiny I mean 1"X2" pouch. I have never needed it. That is including many, many days in the UK. I've never needed it at home either. If I'm going camping then I do carry one. Otherwise, I'm in civilization (loose definition these days) so not needed, IMO.

When I was in England last September, it was still fairly hot. I'd bring a very small, foldable umbrella since I didn't want to wear a jacket most of the time. I get lucky and usually have all sunshine when I go to England :) Maybe you should go at the same time that I do, and we won't have any rain :)
Happy travels,
-Alison

I haven't made it to the UK yet on my current trip and was last there perhaps 40 years ago, pre-global warming. I'll just mention that if you buy a fully waterproof jacket that isn't breathable (Gore-Tex) and/or vented, you will perspire profusely inside that jacket. I have experienced that several times this summer in France. Fortunately, I haven't needed to zip the jacket up very often. I think I made a mistake by not paying the freight for Gore-Tex, given that I travel a lot.

I am not a fan of ponchos either so always carry my water proof Columbia shell on summer trips. It has a hood which is great.

Have traveled in Britain and Ireland before and managed well with either an umbrella or rain jacket with hood.
However, my shoes got wet. Someone gave me a pair of waterproof shoes, but they are large and take up a lot of space in my luggage. I just don't want to bring them on a trip. They are ugly, huge and cumbersome.

I have been looking for plastic covers that I can put over my walking shoes. So far, have not found anything?

As a resident of the UK I seldom travel anywhere without a rainjacket, which is waterproof. Current brand is Rab, possibly not available in the US though. In the summer months - I'm counting September as 'summer' as I'll be hiking through Devon then, fingers crossed for fair weather! - I use a packable jacket, pretty lightweight (I switch to heavy duty jackets for winter months). Elsewhere on the England section there's a similar query to this and somebody suggested layering (sweaters and primaloft jackets and the like, as well as a waterproof, to give yourself options) which was very wise.

You can buy relatively cheap, but non breathable, waterproof jackets in the UK for emergency use if the weather turns, erm, 'inclement', so could travel without and check out the weather forecast on arrival and make a decision on whether one is thought necessary.

I am not a big fan of ponchos - I'm not sure they are much good if a stiff breeze gets up (I once, many years ago, experimented with one as a multi purpose rainjacket and rucksack cover in the Lake District. The wind caught it, shredded it and the last I saw of it, it was blowing down the valley, miles away). That said, my wife loves her cheap, 'Let it rain potatoes!' poncho she bought from The Globe for a comparative song. If in London before the tour proper another purchase option there - you can just wander into The Globe's shop without doing a tour or attending a performance.

She also carries a fold up umbrella - I have been known to myself - but these sometimes attract the attention of security at airports as apparently there have been some instances of people attempting to conceal knives within the folds. To be safe make sure your umbrella, if you take one, is handy for security to check, i.e lose in the plastic 'x-ray tray' and not stowed in your luggage. The other problem with umbrellas is that, like ponchos, they can be worse than useless in a stiff wind.

Hope you have a great trip and that the weather is kind. If not, hope you manage to stay dry!

We each carry a cheap, $1 poncho but only to use over our backpacks should we get caught in a downpour while in transit outdoors. Otherwise we use our Marmot Precip jackets that have pit zips in them. The jackets are windproof and waterproof. I like that the wrists have velcro tabs so you can adjust the arm length a little in case they are too long. These jackets do run small. Luckily we have an REI store over in Jacksonville so made the trip there especially to check out the rain coats. That saved me returns by mail as we both needed larger jackets than we had previously planned to order. I purposely bought a jacket that was loose and allowed for layers underneath.

I, too, do not like a poncho and always pack a rain proof jacket with a hood. It is a thin, pack able Columbia jacket. Even when it isn't raining, I have been know to use it as my outer layer. I took this tour May 2016. My jacket sure was useful the day we spend on Dartmoor National Park. It was windy and quite chilly, in my opinion. On that tour, we experienced a range of temps from 80's to low 60's.

I took the tour a few weeks ago. Bring the jacket--not just for rain but for the wind as well. You'll be spending quite a bit of time near the coast so it can get windy.

My preference is a water repellent jacket for touring areas with light precipitation or a breathable-membrane rain proof (e.g. Goretex laminate) jacket with hood for walking in the bush.

Ponchos do not work well in high wind and wind driven rain situations. If you want to depend on a poncho, use a belt around the poncho to keep your upper body dry. Somewhat ironically, I do have a bike poncho (actually a cape) but it is designed to stream behind forming a well ventilated upper body tent good for warm weather light rain.

I would say that a poncho is useful as a pack cover provided that conditions are not too windy or you have a poncho belt.

And on a guided RS tour you could even get away with an umbrella and not worry about dying of hypothermia.