Climate
South London, like other parts of London and the UK in general, a temperate maritime climate according to the Köppen climate classification system. Three Met Office weather station's currently collect climate data south of the river; Kew, Hampton and Kenley Airfield, on the southern edge of the urban area. Long term climate observations dating back to 1763 are available for Greenwich, although observations ceased here in 2003. As one might expect, temperatures increase towards the Thames, firstly because of the urban warming effect of the surrounding area, but secondly due to altitude decreasing towards the river, meaning the southern margins of South London are often a couple of degrees cooler than those areas adjacent to the Thames. Often snow can be seen to lie on the North Downs near Croydon when central London is snow free.
The record high temperature at Greenwich is 37.5 °C (99.5 °F) recorded during August 2003. Sunshine is notably lower than other London area weather stations (by about 50–100 hours a year), suggesting Greenwich may be a fog trap in winter, and that the hillier land to the south may obscure early morning and late evening sunshine.
The highest temperature recorded across South London was 38.1 °C (100.6 °F) on the same occasion at Kew Gardens. Although the Met Office accepts a higher reading from Brogdale in Kent, many have questioned the accuracy of this and regard the Kew reading as the most reliable highest UK temperature reading.
| Climate data for Greenwich 7m asl 1971-2000, | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
| Average high °C (°F) | 7.9 (46.2) |
8.2 (46.8) |
10.9 (51.6) |
13.3 (55.9) |
17.2 (63.0) |
20.2 (68.4) |
22.8 (73.0) |
22.6 (72.7) |
19.3 (66.7) |
15.2 (59.4) |
10.9 (51.6) |
8.8 (47.8) |
14.8 (58.6) |
| Average low °C (°F) | 2.4 (36.3) |
2.2 (36.0) |
3.8 (38.8) |
5.2 (41.4) |
8.0 (46.4) |
11.1 (52.0) |
13.6 (56.5) |
13.3 (55.9) |
10.9 (51.6) |
8.0 (46.4) |
4.8 (40.6) |
3.3 (37.9) |
7.2 (45.0) |
| Precipitation mm (inches) | 51.9 (2.043) |
34.0 (1.339) |
42.0 (1.654) |
45.2 (1.78) |
47.2 (1.858) |
53.0 (2.087) |
38.3 (1.508) |
47.3 (1.862) |
56.9 (2.24) |
61.5 (2.421) |
52.3 (2.059) |
54.0 (2.126) |
583.6 (22.976) |
| Mean monthly sunshine hours | 45.9 | 66.1 | 103.2 | 147.0 | 185.4 | 180.6 | 190.3 | 194.4 | 139.2 | 109.7 | 60.6 | 37.8 | 1,461.0 |
| Source: MetOffice | |||||||||||||
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