HRH Prince Harry will marry Meghan Markle next spring. Will it be a beautiful day with May warmth and sunshine or will the UK weather bring wind and rain. A look at London's climate.
Most likely to be May.
In today’s news, HRH Prince Harry has got engaged to the American actress Meghan Markle. They will be married in “Spring 2018”. Unlikely to be anywhere other than in London and with Princess Catherine’s and HRH Prince William's third child due in April 2018, May looks most likely.
How is the weather in London at that time of year?
The average daytime temperature is 18C (64F) by day 9C (48F) by night. As the day's get longer the average temperatures move from 16 to 19C, but with quite a variation through the month.
It can rain a lot in the UK but SE England is usually more sheltered from the prevailing SW winds and Atlantic weather fronts. Climatologically, it is likely to rain 9 days out of 31 (recent year data shows between 6 and 13 days) so good chance of staying dry on the big day. Other parts of the UK can still get snow showers in May and this has happened in recent years, but London would be hard pushed to get snow in December so May seems quite safe.
However, the weather can vary greatly, year to year and day by day. The highest ever recorded temperature in May was towards the end of the month, reaching 32.8C (91F), many decades ago. When warmth flows up from Europe, even from Africa, it can result in thunderstorms breaking out or moving up from the continent. So a gloriously sunny, warm day can get a rude, thundery interruption. Someone will have to keep an eye on the Rain radar.
Do we get a day off for a Royal wedding?
There are already two bank holidays in the UK. Mon 7th and Mon 28th in 2018, we'll have to wait and see if another one is added. Kate and William got married on Friday 29 April 2010 at Westminster Abbey. which was in the same week as Easter Monday. Easter is early in 2018, at the beginning of April, so something around these Bank holidays may be more likely.
