Weather in London in October

Shoulder season. October is shoulder season in London — cheaper, quieter, and a genuine gamble. Highs average 15.7 °C, lows 8.1 °C, and rain falls on 14 days — nothing in the month is working against you.

October ranks 7 of 12 in London: past the worst of the year but short of September, which is the month to book if the dates are open.

This is persistent light rain rather than storms: 14 wet days but only 2 heavy ones. It rarely cancels anything outright, and it rarely fully clears either. A jacket beats an umbrella. Pack for 15.7 °C days and 8.1 °C nights; the spread matters more here than any single number.

What the averages hide

The averages here are honest — no hidden extremes worth planning around. Across the twenty years measured, the hottest October day reached 27.4 °C and the coldest night fell to -2 °C, and the wettest single day dropped 31 mm — roughly 42% of the month's rain in one day.

October is moderately variable: 28 mm in the driest year against 157 mm in the wettest, around an average of 73 mm. Roughly two Octobers in three land near that average, and the third does something else entirely.

Wind is light at 12.4 km/h, so the temperature on the page is close to the temperature on your skin, and humidity runs at 87%, high enough to notice on the warm days without dominating them.

How October sits in the year

The month is on the way down: 4.3 °C cooler than September, with November dropping another 4.9 °C. The first week and the last are not the same trip. Rain has already shifted: 5 days more than September had.

Daylight in October

10.8 hours of daylight, losing 1.9 hours across the month. That is between London's extremes of 16.6 and 7.9 hours, so days are long enough not to constrain the plan.

An inland climate

Despite being inland, the year stays fairly even: 21.1 °C between the year's warmest afternoons and coldest nights.

How busy it gets

Shoulder. The value months — prices ease off and you get the place closer to itself.

Crowd levels are estimated from climate desirability and school-holiday calendars, not from visitor numbers.

October in London versus nearby

If London is one option among several, the nearby comparison is worth making. Birmingham is close enough to be a coin toss — within a degree on temperature, the same number of rain days. Le Havre is close enough to be a coin toss — within a degree on temperature, 2 days more rain.

So: October is a compromise. September is 23 points better and is what London is actually like at its best — worth moving the trip for if that is possible, and worth adjusting expectations for if it is not.

Every month in London

See all twelve months in London, or where else to go in October.