Where to get warm when London turns grey

London's winter is grey and wet more than it is cold. January highs sit around seven degrees and it rains on nearly every other day, which is exactly the weather the Danish idea of hygge, roughly warmth and good company indoors, was made for. It works here too.

Baths and a heated terrace

AIRE Ancient Baths is on Robert Street, just off the Strand, in the vaults under a Georgian building: a run of candlelit pools at different temperatures, with timed sessions. It stays open until 10pm in the week and 11pm at weekends, so you can go after work, and nothing else in central London gets as close to a Scandinavian winter evening.

Dalloway Terrace, at the Bloomsbury Hotel on Great Russell Street, heats its terrace in winter and wraps it in greenery and blankets. It suits a long afternoon tea, or a late drink after the British Museum, which is a few minutes' walk away.

Museums after dark

Sir John Soane's Museum in Holborn is free and open Wednesday to Sunday. Small, dark and extraordinary, it's the architect's own house, crammed with his collection exactly as he left it. The V&A runs free Friday Late evenings on the last Friday of most months, and the British Museum stays open until 8.30pm on Fridays. A museum at night in winter is one of the city's gentler pleasures, and worth building an evening round.

Sunday lunch, slowly

A slow roast in a warm dining room is London's own version of hygge. The Harwood Arms in Fulham has a Michelin star and serves Sunday lunch right through the afternoon, with bookings opening 90 days ahead. Hawksmoor Knightsbridge does a roast on Sundays, and Blacklock in Soho serves its roast menu on Sundays only. Book in the week before, because turning up on a wet Sunday and hoping rarely works.

Or skip going out altogether. A flat with a proper sofa, a kitchen and a bag of shopping from the Saturday farmers' market in South Kensington or Notting Hill gives you an evening in with no hotel bar in sight. Air conditioning gets all the attention in listings, but in winter it's the heating that counts, so if underfloor heating matters to you, ask before you book.

Food hygiene ratings for the places in this guide

Official fact Food Standards Agency Food Hygiene Rating Scheme, checked 23 September 2026. 5 is the top rating.

Name	Registered address	Rating	Inspected
The Harwood Arms	Walham Grove, SW6 1QP	5	Feb 2025
Hawksmoor Knightsbridge	3 Yeoman's Row, SW3 2AL	5	Jan 2026
Blacklock Soho	24 Great Windmill Street, W1D 7LG	5	Apr 2026

Ratings cover hygiene only, not food quality. Matched by name and address; a venue not shown was not found or could not be matched with confidence.

London weather by month

July is the warmest month, averaging 23°C by day. July has the fewest wet days (9) and October the most rain (80 mm). For sightseeing on foot, June scores best on our combined warmth-and-dryness measure.

Month	Avg high	Avg low	Rain	Wet days	Chance a 7-day stay sees a washout	Record high / low
January	8°C	2°C	74 mm	13	53%	16°C / -12°C
February	8°C	2°C	51 mm	10	43%	18°C / -8°C
March	11°C	4°C	45 mm	9	44%	23°C / -7°C
April	14°C	5°C	54 mm	10	44%	26°C / -3°C
May	17°C	8°C	54 mm	9	39%	30°C / -1°C
June	20°C	11°C	58 mm	9	35%	34°C / 2°C
July	23°C	13°C	52 mm	9	34%	34°C / 4°C
August	22°C	13°C	68 mm	9	37%	37°C / 4°C
September	19°C	11°C	62 mm	9	39%	29°C / 2°C
October	15°C	8°C	80 mm	11	47%	27°C / -2°C
November	11°C	5°C	76 mm	12	52%	18°C / -6°C
December	8°C	2°C	69 mm	12	50%	16°C / -8°C

Calculated NOAA GHCN-Daily observations at the Hampstead weather station, north London (records 1960–2015; averages from about 25 years per month). A wet day has 1 mm of rain or more.