London temps in-between

August 9, 2018 9:49 AM

I’m going to be in London from Aug 11 to Aug 26, and I’ve looked up the predicted high and low temperature for those days. I’m wondering what outerwear I should have with me for the evenings. If the high for several days is about 24-25 C and the low is about 15, what should I expect around, say, 8 to 10 p.m? It would be helpful to have either a temperature or advice on what to wear over my daytime clothes.
posted by wryly to Travel & Transportation around London, England (8 answers total)

Well, I don't know whether you are a man or woman, but being an English native, I can tell you that the hot weather here is strange in that it is quite a moist heat, so I would advise during the day to wear something that allows good air flow around areas that can get sweaty (e.g. for me, I wear long shorts). London being a massive city, you get the 1-2 degree (centigrade) increase from the city's heat. At about 8-10pm, it'll still probably be about 20 degrees, so you should be warm enough in your daytime cloths. Hope this helps.

Sockpim
posted by sockpim at 10:12 AM on August 9, 2018 [1 favorite]

You can use these graphs to get some idea of the temperature around 2100 UTC. Looks like the temperatures will be around 18C (64F) and slightly warmer toward the end of next week. You may want to take into account it does look a bit breezy, winds of 15-25 km/h (8-15 mph), particularly around Sunday and Tuesday, and I see some rain on Sunday. It looks pretty comfortable but if you're going to be out in it a lot I'd probably have a jacket on hand.
posted by rolypolyman at 10:12 AM on August 9, 2018 [1 favorite]

Sunset is around 8.30, but from experience London in the summer stays residually warm even till midnight. A lot depends on your comfort level and how you typically dress for different conditions, but I'd agree that you can probably get by with summer daytime clothes and maybe a light windbreaker-style jacket for anything adverse.
posted by holgate at 12:06 PM on August 9, 2018 [1 favorite]

I think it depends where you’re coming from and what you’re used to.

(And is 15 the low for daytime, or is that a night temperature?)

I’d guess temps at that time of day will probably be high teens, which for me would be “just wear what you’ve been wearing all day” weather. Especially if you’re going home by Tube, which is usually hot.

If you’re used to Californian temps, you could bring a light cardigan or jacket for the evening in case you find it chilly.
posted by penguin pie at 12:49 PM on August 9, 2018 [1 favorite]

Not clear if you're male or female but, as a (close to) Londoner, at this time of year you may need something like a light jacket in the evening.

We've been in a heat wave which has broken somewhat today. For normal August I'd recommend a warmish cardigan or (if male) blazer as an evening cover up. Also bear in mind it may rain, so a light waterproof may be the best answer if you're planning to spend time outside.

As a point of reference - yesterday it was so hot I had to wear a light linen dress with no tights to work, and was outside at 10pm in the same without feeling cold. In contrast, today I'm wearing opaque tights and was very grateful for my warmish raincoat on my cycle home at 9pm.
posted by bored_now_flay at 2:36 PM on August 9, 2018 [3 favorites]

I've just been throwing a hoodie in bag in case I need it at night. For the past several weeks I haven't needed it. Today I did though and was glad for it. This city retains heat so when it's really hot during the day, at night it doesn't usually feel as cold as the low temperature forecasted. Unless it rains.
posted by Polychrome at 2:47 PM on August 9, 2018 [2 favorites]

Response by poster: Thank you all very much for your answers! They're very helpful for both my female self and my husband. I live in San Francisco, where it's normal for a lovely August day (25 C) to become very chilly by 6 p.m., so I'm grateful for the first-hand information.
posted by wryly at 5:58 PM on August 9, 2018

I grew up in San Francisco and I live and work in London (and have done so for the last 8 years) so I feel fairly confident to answer this one woohoo!

That said, everyone is right, a light jacket is all you need right now. We recently went through a heatwave (as someone from San Francisco, I hated it) and today was the first day I threw on a jean jacket and that'll be fine all day and night. Something like that or a hoodie should be all you need during your trip. I think you're gonna have good weather while you're here!
posted by like_neon at 1:47 AM on August 10, 2018