Climate in England
On the whole, English summers rarely get very hot, and the winters don’t get very cold. There’s not a huge amount of regional variation, though generally, it’s wetter in the west than the east, and the south gets more sunshine than the north. In winter, the differences are slightly more noticeable, with the south tending to be milder and wetter than the north.
Despite the overall temperate climate, extreme weather is becoming more common. Recent years have seen summer temperatures soar into the 30s (over 90°F) and serious winter or spring flooding across many regions. When planning England trips, it’s smart to pack for all seasons, often in the same day.
Best time to visit England
The truth? England’s weather is unpredictable year-round. May can be gray and rainy one year, then warm and sunny the next — and the same goes for fall. November might bring crisp, clear days or endless fog and drizzle.
If your trip planning to England includes camping or beach days, aim for June to September, but book accommodation well in advance, as it’s peak season. If you’re looking for a balance between decent weather and fewer crowds, the best time to visit is April to early June or September to October.
Festivals and Vacations in England by month
Many of the showpiece events marketed to tourists – Trooping the Color, the Lord Mayor’s Show and the like – say little about contemporary England and nothing about the country’s regional folk history. For a more instructive idea of what makes the English check mark, you’d do better to sniff out some grassroots, local-led festivities – a wacky village celebration, for instance, or London’s exuberant Notting Hill Carnival.
Most major towns and cities host public festivals, some dating back centuries, others more recent inventions, but everywhere there’s a general willingness both to revive the traditional and to experiment with the new – from medieval jousting through to the performing arts. The events calendar below picks out some of the best; for detailed local listings contact tourist offices.
January/February
Chinese New Year (on or near Feb 3, 2011; Jan 23, 2012; Feb 10, 2013; wwww.londonchinatown.org). Processions, fireworks and festivities in the country’s two main Chinatowns in London and Manchester.
Shrove Tuesday (aka Mardi Gras/“Fat Tuesday”; March 8, 2011; Feb 21, 2012; Feb 12, 2013). The last day before Lent, also known as “Pancake Day”: it’s traditional to eat pancakes and, famously in Olney, Buckinghamshire (wwww.visitolney.com), to race with them. Ashbourne in Derbyshire (wwww.ashbourne-town.com) hosts the world’s oldest, largest, longest, maddest game of “Shrovetide Soccer”.
