The climate of the United Kingdom is temperate maritime: mild winters, cool summers, rain spread throughout the year and, above all, extremely changeable weather. The country lies at the same latitude as southern Canada and Siberia, but is warmed by the Gulf Stream and the westerly winds off the Atlantic, which make temperatures much milder than you would expect. The British habit of talking about the weather comes from this: on a single day you can have sunshine, rain, wind and sunshine again.
Temperatures
Temperatures are rarely extreme. In London the average high ranges from about 8 degrees in January to 24 in July; in Edinburgh from 7 to 19. The south and east are warmer and sunnier, the north and the uplands cooler. Snow falls mainly in Scotland and on high ground, while in southern cities it is rare and short-lived. The heat record is 40.3°C, recorded on 19 July 2022 at Coningsby, Lincolnshire, the first time the country exceeded 40 degrees; the cold record is -27.2°C, recorded several times in the Scottish Highlands.
Rain: a myth to be put in perspective
The UK is famous for being very rainy, but the reality is more nuanced. It rains often, with many grey, drizzly days, but the total amount of rain varies enormously from place to place. The west coast and the mountains, exposed to Atlantic weather systems, are very wet, with more than 3,000 millimetres a year in the western Highlands and Eryri, while the east and south-east are surprisingly dry: London gets on average about 600 millimetres of rain a year, less than Rome.
The seasons
- Spring (March-May): cool and bright, with parks and gardens in bloom; May is often one of the sunniest and driest months.
- Summer (June-August): mild, with very long days, especially in Scotland, where in June it gets dark only around 11 pm; heatwaves are increasingly frequent.
- Autumn (September-November): September is often pleasant, then wind and rain arrive; the woodland colours are splendid.
- Winter (December-February): damp and grey rather than cold, with very short days: in Edinburgh in December the sun sets before 4 pm. Atlantic storms bring strong winds and sometimes floods.
To choose when to travel see when to go to the UK.
A changing climate
The UK too is feeling the effects of global warming. According to the Met Office, the national weather service, 2025 was the warmest and sunniest year on record, beating the 2022 record, and all the warmest years in the series have come since 2000. Summers are hotter and drier, with heatwaves and droughts that were once very rare, while winters tend to be milder and wetter, with more frequent floods, such as those that regularly hit towns along the Severn, the Ouse and the Trent. Rising sea levels threaten parts of eastern England, and London is protected by a movable barrier on the Thames, the Thames Barrier, which is closed ever more often.
Practical tips
Whatever the season, dress in layers and always carry a waterproof jacket: an umbrella helps, but the wind often makes it useless. Met Office and BBC forecasts are reliable and worth checking every day, especially for walks in the mountains, where the weather changes fast. See also the UK in figures and travel tips.