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London late July early August - Packing suggestions?

I've seen the forecasts for this time of year in London (High 70's Low 50's) but what suggestions would you seasoned London travelers suggest? Should I expect hot and humid? Thank you in advance.

Posted by
10221 posts

There is no way to predict. I went to London in August and it was chilly and rained off and on. You just never know...

Posted by
2081 posts

Kathy,

as stated above...

I was there in a March and it was more overcast. cool in the AM but fine for a long sleeve shirt for me. Ive been there 2x so far in Sept and its been about the same with one day of sprinkles.

i bring a medium insulated waterproof jacket with a hood and also a packable/storable rain jacket with hood. Thats all i bring, so far, for my travels and the insulated jacket has been fine to keep me warm and dry.

Happy trails.

Posted by
833 posts

Accuweather and some other websites allow you to look at the temperatures for specific days going back a few years. You can get a sense of what it might be like, but it may be best just to prepare for a range of weather. Warm or cold fronts can sneak up on you.

Posted by
2602 posts

I was there in August and found it a bit warm and humid--I'm from the San Francisco bay area, we don't get humid but summers can be chilly. I'm a jeans and T-shirt/cute top kind of girl, so fortunately I'd brought some short-sleeved tops and a couple of light cardigans to wear when out and about early in the morning. A light jacket was brought but never used. No sandals for me, a well-broken in pair of Fluevog boots and Smartwool socks took good care of my feet.

Posted by
15582 posts

The weather can make you run out to buy and umbrella and a fleece on Tuesday, by Thursday you could be sweltering indoors and out (London's built to keep the heat in). Or it could be so sunny and pleasant that you'll come home wondering why anyone would complain about London weather.

Posted by
9110 posts

London gets a couple feet of precip a year; the Sahara almost a foot.

You're nuts if you don't take a rain jacket to either.

Posted by
5326 posts

On average it rains on 1 in 4 days in the summer months in London, much of it convective rather than frontal.

Late July / early August has seen some of the hottest temperatures; in 1990 it reached 36.5 °C on 3 Aug and 37 °C on 10 Aug 2003. These were both at the end of a long spell of continental weather. However, you are just as likely to have 18 °C under polar weather. (The extreme min is 5 °C but at night - the average min is 13 °C).