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temperate marine climate
Despite this, summers are generally warm, with daytime temperatures above 20 °C (68 °F) on
over 90% of days. Warm weather can usually be expected from May to September – in recent
years, 30 °C (86 °F) has been recorded in early May on several occasions and as late as mid
September. On average, London receives 28 days above 25 °C (77 °F) per year, and 4 days
above 30 °C (86 °F).
Inner London can be up to 5 °C warmer than the surrounding areas. Temperatures in the
London Underground can easily reach well above 40 °C (104 °F) on warm days. Heatwaves do
occur, although serious heatwaves are not as common. During mild heatwaves, temperatures
usually reach above 32 °C (90 °F) for several days and do not drop below20 °C (68 °F) at night.
During more severe heatwaves such as 2003 and 2006, temperatures can reach above 35
°C (95 °F) during the day and at times were as high as 23 °C (73 °F) in some areas at night.
June and July 2006 were notable for the intense heat, with temperatures regularly reaching
above 33 °C (91 °F) and the mean max for July of that year coming out at above 28 °C (82 °F).
The highest temperature ever recorded in London was 38.1 °C (100.6 °F) at Kew Gardens (37.5
°C (99.5 °F) at Greenwich Observatory) on 10 August 2003[97] during the 2003 European heat
wave.
Winters in London are chilly, but rarely below freezing, with daytime highs around 6
°C (43 °F) – 8 °C (46 °F). Winter temperatures can reach as high as 16 °C (61 °F) occasionally,
and also below 0 °C (32 °F) during daytime, especially in 2010–2011 winter. [98] The lowest ever
recorded temperature was −21.1 °C (−6 °F) in January 1795. Spring is characterised by mild
days and cool evenings in March and April, and generally warm days and mild nights during May.
Spring is normally a very mixed affair however, with cool weather possible until late April. 29
°C (84 °F) has been recorded in April, and similarly cool temperatures have been recorded in
early May. Spring is normally the driest time of year in London. Autumn is usually mild but often
unsettled as colder air from the arctic and warmer air from the tropics meet. Temperatures
usually remain warm, above 18 °C (64 °F) until late September. London is a relatively dry city
with regular but generally light precipitation throughout the year, with an average of
583.6 millimetres (22.98 in) every year. This is lower than many cities such as New York, Paris,
Sydney and around the same as Jerusalem and San Francisco.
14.0 16.0 21.0 26.9 31.0 35.0 35.5 37.9 30.0 26.0 19.0 15.0 37.9
Record high °C (°F)
(57.2) (60.8) (69.8) (80.4) (87.8) (95) (95.9) (100.2) (86) (78.8) (66.2) (59) (100.2)
8.1 8.4 11.4 14.2 17.9 21.1 23.5 23.2 19.9 15.6 11.2 8.3 15.2
Average high °C (°F)
(46.6) (47.1) (52.5) (57.6) (64.2) (70) (74.3) (73.8) (67.8) (60.1) (52.2) (46.9) (59.4)
2.3 2.1 3.9 5.5 8.7 11.7 13.9 13.7 11.4 8.4 4.9 2.7 7.4
Average low °C (°F)
(36.1) (35.8) (39) (41.9) (47.7) (53.1) (57) (56.7) (52.5) (47.1) (40.8) (36.9) (45.3)
-10.0 -9.0 -8.0 -2.0 -1.0 5.0 7.0 6.0 3.0 -4.0 -7.0 -10.0
Record low °C (°F)
(14) (15.8) (17.6) (28.4) (30.2) (41) (44.6) (42.8) (37.4) (24.8) (19.4) (14)
Precipitation mm 55.2 40.8 41.6 43.6 49.3 44.9 44.5 49.5 49.1 68.5 59.0 55.0 601.5
(inches) (2.173) (1.606) (1.638) (1.717) (1.941) (1.768) (1.752) (1.949) (1.933) (2.697) (2.323) (2.165) (23.681)
Avg. rainy days (≥ 1 mm) 10.9 8.1 9.8 9.3 8.5 8.4 7.0 7.2 8.7 9.3 9.3 10.1 106.6
Sunshine hours 61.4 77.7 113.9 167.6 197.0 205.5 210.9 203.4 148.3 115.9 72.3 51.8 1,625.7
Source no. 1: Record highs and lows from BBC Weather,[98] except August maximum from Met Office[97]
Dominant Wind dir.
Wind probability
> = 4 Beaufort (%) 50 46 42 35 32 32 34 41 51 56 53 51 43
Average
Wind speed
(Knots) 11 11 10 10 9 9 10 11 11 12 12 12 10
Average air temp. (°C) 24 25 23 21 20 18 18 19 19 20 21 23 20
Select month (Help) Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Year
Wind direction
Distribution
June(%)
London-Heathrow (HEATHROW)
Time zone: UTC +1 | Sunrise: 04:50 Sunset: 21:10
Last update: 17:30 local time - initial time: 12:00 UTC