Rain is a normal part of a London trip, and the city is well prepared for it: many of its best sights are indoors, the biggest museums are free, and several markets and arcades have roofs. With a little planning, a wet day can turn into one of the best days of your visit.
Visitors often arrive expecting constant rain. The reality is more mixed. At Heathrow, on London's western edge, the Met Office records an average of about 112 days a year with at least 1 mm of rain, and a total of around 615 mm a year. That means rain on roughly one day in three, and on many of those days the rain does not last from morning to night. The wettest months by rainfall are October and November, while the summer months see rain on fewer days.
So pack a small umbrella or a waterproof jacket, keep this page open, and swap your outdoor plans for an indoor day when the forecast turns grey. Our guide to London's weather and what to pack has month-by-month averages.
Wet-weather London in brief
- Best free option
- The South Kensington museums: Natural History Museum, Science Museum (free ticket needed) and V&A
- Central free museums
- British Museum, National Gallery, Tate Modern, Tate Britain
- Covered places to wander
- Leadenhall Market, Covent Garden's market building, Old Spitalfields Market
- Late openings
- V&A Fridays to 22:00; National Gallery Fridays to 21:00; Tate Modern Fridays and Saturdays to 21:00
- Rain days per year
- About 112 days with 1 mm or more (Heathrow, 1991-2020 average)
Spend the day in South Kensington's three great museums
If you only remember one tip from this page, make it this one. Three of the world's great museums stand next to each other in South Kensington, and their main collections are free. You can move between them in a few minutes, and there is a pedestrian tunnel from South Kensington station towards the museums, so you barely need to go outside.
The Natural History Museum is open daily from 10:00 to 17:50 (last entry 17:30). You don't need to book, but a free entry ticket guarantees entry, and on a rainy weekend or during school holidays the queue outside can be long. Hope, the blue whale skeleton, hangs in the main hall. The museum is closed on Friday 9 October 2026.
Next door, the Science Museum is free, but you must pre-book a free ticket. It is open daily from 10:00 to 18:00 (last entry 17:15), and an average visit lasts around two hours. It is closed all day on Wednesday 11 November 2026. Wonderlab, its hands-on gallery, is paid, with day passes from £13.50; booking ahead is cheaper.
Across the road, the V&A covers art and design from fashion to furniture. General admission is free and you don't need to book. It opens daily from 10:00 to 17:45, and on Fridays until 22:00, although some galleries close after 17:45. The fashion gallery is closed until autumn 2028.
Book the Natural History Museum's free ticket the moment rain appears in the forecast. Everyone in London has the same idea on a wet Saturday. The free ticket costs nothing and saves you a long wait in the rain, which is exactly what you are trying to avoid.
The free museums in the centre
You don't have to go to South Kensington. Several of London's best collections sit in the centre and cost nothing to enter. Our full list of free museums in London has more.
- The British Museum in Bloomsbury. The Rosetta Stone is in Room 4 and the Parthenon sculptures in Room 18, both on the ground floor. Some rooms open only from 11:00 to 15:00, and galleries can close at short notice. Check opening times on the museum's website before you go.
- The National Gallery on Trafalgar Square. General admission is free, and a free ticket gives fast-track entry, though you can also walk in. It opens daily from 10:00 to 18:00, and until 21:00 on Fridays. Building work means some rooms are closed and some paintings have moved.
- Tate Modern on the South Bank, open until 18:00 from Sunday to Thursday and until 21:00 on Fridays and Saturdays. The huge Turbine Hall is a good place to wait out a downpour.
- Tate Britain by the river at Millbank, free and open daily from 10:00 to 18:00, about 600 m from Pimlico station.
- Imperial War Museum London, free with no booking, open daily from 10:00 to 18:00. It closes at 16:00 on Thursday 1 October 2026.
Each of these museums can easily fill half a day. Combining one in the morning with a covered market or an afternoon tea later is a better plan than rushing through three.
Covered markets and arcades to wander
Walking around London is a pleasure, but not in heavy rain. These places let you browse, eat and people-watch with a roof over your head.
Leadenhall Market in the City of London has a painted Victorian roof over its cobbled lanes. Its public areas are open 24 hours a day, though shop hours vary. It is 4 minutes from Monument station and 6 minutes from Bank. Scaffolding is up for maintenance, but the market is fully open.
Covent Garden is built around a covered market hall, with shops, cafés and street performers in the piazza outside. It is a good base on a wet afternoon, with theatres close by. Our guide to shopping in Covent Garden and Seven Dials covers the streets around it.
Old Spitalfields Market near Liverpool Street sits under a large roof, with stalls selling clothes, crafts and food. It is close to Brick Lane, so you can combine the two, dashing between them. See our guide to Spitalfields and the Brick Lane markets.
Borough Market, beside London Bridge station, is partly covered by its Victorian roof. It is closed on Mondays and open from 10:00 to 17:00 Tuesday to Friday, 09:00 to 17:00 on Saturday and 10:00 to 16:00 on Sunday. Not every part of it is under cover, so stay near the market halls if the rain is heavy.
Paid attractions that work well in wet weather
Some of London's paid sights are entirely indoors, which makes them ideal for a rainy day. Prices below are for adults (September 2026), and most vary with demand, so book online to pay less.
| Attraction | Adult price | Timing | Rainy-day fit |
|---|---|---|---|
| Churchill War Rooms | £34 | Last entry 17:00 | Entirely underground |
| SEA LIFE London Aquarium | Online from £28; £39 on the day | About 1.5-2 hours | Indoors, near Waterloo |
| Madame Tussauds | Online from £27; £39 walk-up | About 1.5-2 hours | Indoors, next to Baker Street station |
| The London Dungeon | Online from £27; £35 on the day | Check when booking | Indoors; recommended age 12+ |
| Warner Bros. Studio Tour | £58.50 (2026) | About 3.5 hours on site | Indoors; must be pre-booked |
| Tower of London | £37.00 | At least 3 hours | Mixed: the Crown Jewels are indoors, much else is outside |
The Churchill War Rooms have no cloakroom and do not allow suitcases, so don't go straight from your hotel checkout. Madame Tussauds' own website gives two different "from" prices online (£27 and £29), so check the booking page on the day. The Warner Bros. Studio Tour sells no tickets on the day, so on a rainy day you can only go if you booked earlier.
Walk-up prices climb when the whole city hides from the rain. Attractions such as the London Eye, the aquarium and Madame Tussauds set online prices by demand, and walk-up tickets cost several pounds more. If the forecast shows rain for tomorrow, book tonight rather than at the door.
Rainy days with children
A wet day with bored children is every parent's fear, and London has good answers. The Natural History Museum's dinosaurs and the Science Museum's interactive galleries are the obvious choices, and both are free. Wonderlab at the Science Museum is designed for hands-on play; under-3s go free and a day pass costs from £13.50 for everyone else.
The SEA LIFE London Aquarium next to the London Eye works well for younger children. The London Dungeon is more for teenagers: the recommended age is 12+, under-5s are not admitted and under-16s must be with an adult. Our guide to London with kids has more family ideas for every kind of weather.
Children aged 5 to 10 travel free on the Tube with a fare-paying adult, and free on buses and trams, so moving between indoor sights costs very little.
Getting around without getting soaked
On a rainy day, public transport is your friend. The Tube and the Elizabeth line keep you completely out of the weather, and many stations are close to the big museums. South Kensington for the museums, Charing Cross for the National Gallery, Southwark for Tate Modern and Pimlico for Tate Britain are all within a short walk.
Buses let you see the city from a dry seat. A bus fare is £1.75 (rising to £1.85 on 1 November 2026), and the Hopper fare means further bus journeys started within an hour of the first are free if you use the same card. The top deck of a double-decker is a cheap sightseeing tour when it is too wet to walk.
Black cabs are the other option. All London taxis must accept contactless payment, with no surcharge for paying by card. Expect a short journey of about 1 mile to cost £8.40 to £13.00 on a weekday daytime, more in the evening and at weekends.
Buses fill up fast in a downpour, so leave extra time. When the rain starts, many people switch from walking to the bus at the same moment. If you have a timed ticket, for example at the Science Museum or an afternoon tea, take the Tube instead, where rain makes little difference to journey times.
Afternoon tea, pubs and a matinee
Rain is a good excuse to slow down. A long afternoon tea in a hotel or department store, with sandwiches, scones and cakes, fills a grey afternoon very pleasantly. Many places need booking, especially at weekends. Our guide to afternoon tea in London compares the options.
A traditional pub is the other classic shelter. London has pubs that have stood for centuries, with fires in winter and dark wood panelling. See our pick of London's historic pubs. Remember that you must be 18 to buy alcohol.
Finally, the West End theatres run afternoon matinee performances on some days. The Official London Theatre Ticket Booth on the south side of Leicester Square sells same-day deals, and it is open Monday to Saturday from 10:30 to 18:00 and Sunday from 11:00 to 16:00. The same deals are online. Our guide to cheap theatre tickets explains how to get a good seat for less. Avoid Shakespeare's Globe on a wet day if you buy a standing ticket: the yard is open to the sky.
Frequently asked questions
How often does it rain in London?
At Heathrow, the Met Office's 1991-2020 average is about 112 days a year with at least 1 mm of rain, and about 615 mm of rain in total. That is rain on roughly one day in three. October and November have the most rainfall, while July and September have the fewest wet days.
What is the best free thing to do in London when it rains?
The South Kensington museums are the best choice. The Natural History Museum, the Science Museum and the V&A stand close together, their main galleries are free, and you can spend a full day there without going far outside. The Science Museum needs a free pre-booked ticket.
Are London's covered markets open every day?
Not all of them. Leadenhall Market's public areas are open 24 hours a day, but shop hours vary. Borough Market is closed on Mondays. Check each market's website for the day you plan to visit, because opening hours also change around bank holidays.
Is the London Eye worth doing in the rain?
The pods are enclosed, so you stay dry, but low cloud and rain on the glass can spoil the view. If you have booked a timed ticket, go anyway on light showers. If there is heavy cloud, consider moving your booking if your ticket allows it, and spend the time in a museum instead.
Sources
- Met Office - Heathrow climate averages 1991-2020 (checked September 2026)
- Natural History Museum - Visit (checked September 2026)
- Science Museum - Visit (checked September 2026)
- V&A - Visit South Kensington (checked September 2026)
- National Gallery - Plan your visit (checked September 2026)
- Leadenhall Market - Visit (checked September 2026)
- Borough Market - Visit us (checked September 2026)
- Transport for London - Taxi fares (checked September 2026)