London in December 2026: weather and what to do

Is December a good time for London? Yes, if you come for the lights, the theatre, the museums and the shops rather than for long walks in the sun. London rarely freezes: daytime highs average 9.3 °C and nights 4.1 °C. But it is damp – 65 mm of rain in the month – and dark, with just under 8 hours of daylight around the solstice. The one date to plan around is 25 December: in recent years most public transport has not run, and almost everything is closed.

Weather in London in December

Averages 2015–2024 from the ERA5 reanalysis (via Open-Meteo), rounded. Daylight: astronomical day length on 21 December at London's latitude, about 7 h 50 min (sunrise to sunset).

In practice: expect grey skies, drizzle and wind more than real cold. Snow in central London is rare. It gets dark in the late afternoon, which is exactly when the Christmas lights on Regent Street, Oxford Street, Carnaby Street and in Covent Garden look best. Plan outdoor sights such as the Tower or a walk along the South Bank for the morning and early afternoon.

What's on in December 2026

Hyde Park Winter Wonderland – the big Christmas fair with rides, an ice rink, markets and shows – runs from 19 November 2026 to 3 January 2027, closed on Christmas Day, according to its official website. Entry and many attractions need a timed ticket booked online; weekends and evenings in December sell out first.

New Year's Eve: the Mayor of London's fireworks along the Thames on 31 December are a ticketed event. Tickets are sold only through the official channel named on the City Hall website; without one, you cannot enter the viewing areas by the river. Many people watch on television or from a pub instead.

The Christmas lights in the West End are switched on in November and stay up until early January. Window displays at the big department stores, carol services in the churches and Christmas shows in the theatres complete the season; dates and tickets are on the venues' own websites.

London has no single big Christmas market in the German style. If that is what you are after, the Edinburgh Christmas market 2026 is a train ride north, and our best Christmas markets in Europe compares the classics.

What to do on a rainy day

London is one of the best cities in the world for a wet day, and many of the big museums are free:

• British Museum: the Rosetta Stone, the Parthenon sculptures and the Egyptian mummies.
• Natural History Museum and the Science Museum in South Kensington, next to the V&A – three big museums within a few minutes' walk.
• National Gallery on Trafalgar Square, with the Christmas tree in front of it in December.
• Tate Modern in the old power station on the South Bank.
• Theatre: a West End musical or a Christmas pantomime is a classic December evening.
• Covered markets: Borough Market and the market halls of Covent Garden are good for lunch out of the rain.

Tickets for paid sights^* – the Tower, Westminster Abbey, the London Eye – are on Tiqets. If you plan many of them, compare the Go City London Pass^* with single tickets.

Christmas and New Year: what is open

In England, 25 December, Boxing Day and 1 January are bank holidays; in 2026 Boxing Day falls on a Saturday, so the bank holiday moves to Monday 28 December. On Christmas Day almost everything is closed: shops, museums, most attractions, and many restaurants except those serving a booked Christmas lunch. In recent years Transport for London has run no service on most public transport on 25 December, with only some buses, taxis and Santander Cycles available – check TfL's Christmas travel plans for 2026 before you book a hotel far from the centre.

On Christmas Eve and Boxing Day many services run with changes, and the Boxing Day sales fill the shopping streets. On New Year's Eve in recent years the network has run through the night, with some central stations closed at short notice to manage crowds. Museums and attractions publish their own holiday hours; we do not list them because they change every year.

What to pack

• A waterproof jacket with a hood or a small umbrella – rain is more likely than frost.
• Shoes that stay dry on wet pavements; you walk a lot in London.
• A warm layer for the evening and for the wind along the Thames.
• A type G plug adapter; the UK uses its own sockets.

YesTrip shows the forecast for your actual travel days and suggests matching clothes and the right adapter in the packing list.

How many days, and getting there

Three to four days work well in December: the classics – Westminster, the Tower, the British Museum – plus an evening for the lights and one for a show. Our article on how many days in London has plans for one to five days, and our London trip plan has the route with a map. With more time, the best day trips from London include Windsor, Oxford and Bath.

From the airports, trains run into the centre – compare the options in our guides Heathrow to central London and Gatwick to central London; check the holiday timetables if you land on 24–26 December. A door-to-door transfer from the airport^* can be booked with Welcome Pickups. Many visitors, including EU citizens, need an Electronic Travel Authorisation (ETA) before travelling – the rules are on the UK government website. If roaming in the UK costs extra on your plan, a travel eSIM for the UK^* (Airalo) can be cheaper; our eSIM price index compares prices.

With YesTrip you copy our London plan into the app with one tap, add your hotel, a show and Winter Wonderland, and get the weather for your travel days and an offline map. YesTrip is free.

London trip planDay by day, with map and tips

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