London in January: Weather, the Sales and What to Book

Our honest verdict: January is a good month for museums, palaces and theater, and a poor one for long outdoor days or views from the top of things. If you want the Tower of London, Westminster Abbey and the War Rooms without the summer crush, it's one of the best months of the year. If you want picnics in the parks and sunset river walks, come back in May.

What works in your favor:

• Thinner crowds. Historic Royal Palaces lists January weekdays among the quietest times at the Tower of London, which also means shorter waits for the Crown Jewels.
• The sales. Big stores and fashion brands mark down winter stock after Christmas, and many reductions run well into January.
• Holiday leftovers. The first days of the month still have the tail end of the festive season: Winter Wonderland runs to January 3, 2027, Skate at Somerset House to January 10, and Hogwarts in the Snow at the Harry Potter studio to January 17.

What works against you: short, often overcast days, rain on about a third of them, and the London Eye closed for its annual maintenance. Plan one indoor anchor a day, a museum, a palace or a tour, and fit the walking around it.

The Met Office's 1991–2020 climate averages for its Heathrow station, west of the center, give January an average daily high of 8.4°C (about 47°F) and an average low of 2.7°C (about 37°F). Its Hampstead station in north London is a touch colder and wetter: a high of 7.5°C (45°F) and a low of 2.3°C (36°F).

• Rain: 59mm (about 2.3 inches) at Heathrow and 70mm (about 2.7 inches) at Hampstead, spread over 11 to 12 days with at least 1mm. Expect drizzle and showers more than downpours.
• Frost: about 7 to 8 nights of air frost in an average January. Snow is possible but isn't something to plan around.
• Sunshine: around 60 hours for the whole month, or about two hours a day. Gray is the default.

Those are long-term averages, not a forecast; check the Met Office forecast in the week before you fly.

What to wear in London in January

Dress for cold and damp rather than deep cold. Locals wear layers they can peel off in overheated shops, museums and the Tube.

• A warm, water-resistant coat with a hood, or a compact umbrella (wind can make umbrellas hard work on bridges and the river).
• Waterproof shoes or boots you can walk in all day. Pavements stay wet, and a walking tour means two or three hours on your feet.
• A sweater or fleece, plus a hat, scarf and gloves for evenings, river walks and outdoor events like the New Year's Day parade.
• Smart-casual layers for the theater or an afternoon tea; nobody expects formal winter wear.

Our winter packing list for London goes item by item.

The January sales are a British tradition, but there's no official start date: each retailer sets and announces its own, usually in December. Reductions often begin straight after Christmas and carry on through January, with deeper cuts as the month goes on and sizes sell out. Check the store's own website for its dates rather than relying on lists.

A few rules make the calendar easier to read:

• Christmas Day: large shops in England must close by law.
• Boxing Day 2026 falls on Saturday, December 26, so the bank holiday moves to Monday, December 28, according to GOV.UK. Shops set their own hours over that weekend.
• Sundays: large shops (over 280 square meters) can open for only six consecutive hours between 10am and 6pm, so arrive early. Smaller shops aren't restricted.
• New Year's Day is a bank holiday; opening hours vary by store.

The big shopping streets are Oxford Street, Regent Street and Bond Street, plus the department stores in Knightsbridge and the market halls of Covent Garden. Weekday mornings tend to be calmest. If you're shopping in the West End on January 1, remember that the parade runs along Piccadilly, Regent Street and Pall Mall that afternoon.

Most of London reopens on January 2. These are the closures and hours worth checking, with each venue's own information:

• Tower of London: closed January 1; open every other day. Historic Royal Palaces' winter hours run 9am to 4:30pm Tuesday to Saturday and 10am to 4:30pm Sunday and Monday, with last admission at 4pm. Historic Royal Palaces suggests heading to the Jewel House first. Our Tower of London tours guide compares the guided options.
• London Eye: the official site says it's closed for annual maintenance throughout January. It hasn't published a 2027 reopening date, so check londoneye.com before you book anything; our London Eye tickets guide covers the rest of the year.
• Westminster Abbey: a working church, open to sightseers Monday to Saturday; on Sundays it's open for worship only. General admittance typically runs 9:30am to 3:30pm, and the Abbey warns it can close at short notice, so check the official calendar for your date.
• Churchill War Rooms: Imperial War Museums lists it as closed only on December 24–26, open until 6pm with last entry at 5pm. It's underground and fully indoors, which makes it one of the best wet-day visits in the city. Official tickets and opening times are in our Churchill War Rooms tickets guide.
• National Gallery: closed January 1; otherwise open daily 10am to 6pm, until 9pm on Fridays. Entry is free.
• Natural History Museum: its visit page lists closures only on December 24–26, with daily hours of 10am to 5:50pm and free entry. It recommends booking a free ticket to guarantee entry on busy days, such as weekends.

Every tour on this page was showing January dates when we checked; book a few days ahead rather than on the morning, especially in the first week of the month.

These are the January 2027 dates the organizers have published so far. We'll add others when they're officially announced.

• London New Year's Day Parade, Friday, January 1: runs 1pm to 4:30pm along a route of about 2.2 miles, starting on Piccadilly near Green Park, then Regent Street, Pall Mall, Trafalgar Square and Whitehall, finishing near Parliament Square. Standing along the route is free; grandstand seats are ticketed through the official parade site.
• Hyde Park Winter Wonderland: last day Sunday, January 3, 2027. Tickets and tips are in our Winter Wonderland guide.
• Victoria's Countryside Christmas at Kensington Palace: runs to January 3, included with palace admission. See our Kensington Palace guide.
• Southbank Centre Winter Market: runs to January 4 on the Queen's Walk.
• Skate at Somerset House: runs to January 10.
• Hogwarts in the Snow at Warner Bros. Studio Tour London – The Making of Harry Potter: runs to January 17, and tickets must be booked in advance. Compare transport options in our Harry Potter studio tour guide.
• Winter Lights at Canary Wharf: Canary Wharf has announced an 11th edition for 2027 but hasn't published dates yet. The 2026 edition ran in late January, free and without booking, from 5pm to 10pm.

Still planning the holidays themselves? Our Christmas in London guide covers the lights, markets and what's open December 24–26.

Build your days around one indoor booking and you'll never waste a rainy afternoon. These are the three we'd pick, all a short walk or Tube ride from each other.

Churchill War Rooms tours

The War Rooms are the obvious January choice: the bunker where Churchill's government ran the war, preserved under Whitehall. Every tour here ends with entry and an audio guide, so the only time outdoors is the walk beforehand. Our Churchill War Rooms guide compares every way in, including the official ticket.

• Urban Saunters runs our top pick: a 3 hours outing with a small-group walk (15 people or fewer) past Parliament, the Cenotaph and Downing Street, starting at the Boudica statue on Victoria Embankment, then the War Rooms on your own.
• City Wonders UK covers similar ground in 2.5 hours with groups of up to 25 and headsets, past Big Ben and Westminster Abbey (entry not included), ending at the War Rooms. It's the better-value option, though its reviews are less consistently glowing.
• Top Sights Tours Group LLC spends longer in Westminster first, meeting at The Ritz on Piccadilly, for a 5 hours half day; groups can be larger (up to 40).

The Tower of London

The Tower is partly outdoors, but the Jewel House, the White Tower and the Line of Kings are all inside, and January weekdays are among its quietest days. The Tour Guy's 2 hours guided tour includes the Crown Jewels and a 15-minute meet-and-greet with a Yeoman Warder on its standard options. If you'd rather explore alone, the official day ticket from Historic Royal Palaces includes the free Yeoman Warder tours, which Historic Royal Palaces says may be adapted or cancelled in poor weather. Remember the Tower is closed on January 1.

Westminster Abbey

Premium Tours's Abbey tour starts with coffee and pastries in the 14th-century Cellarium, then uses priority entry through the cloister for a guided visit of up to 90 minutes, with groups capped at 20. Book a Monday-to-Saturday date: on Sundays the Abbey is open for worship only. Our Westminster tours guide compares Parliament visits and full-day combos.

If you want the river without the wind, a lunch or dinner cruise keeps you inside with the city sliding past; compare them in our Thames cruises guide.

Short days make the train your best friend in January. Pick a destination about an hour away, and leave after the morning rush (Off-Peak fares are cheaper anyway) to make the most of the daylight.

• Windsor: under an hour from Paddington (change at Slough) or direct from Waterloo. The castle is mostly indoors, but it's closed on Tuesdays and Wednesdays, so check the day before you buy.
• Oxford: from 52 minutes from Paddington. Colleges, libraries and museums keep you inside between walks.
• Bath: around 1 hour 20 minutes from Paddington, with the Roman Baths and the Abbey as indoor anchors.
• Stonehenge: English Heritage's winter hours run 9:30am to 5pm with last entry at 3pm, so join a coach tour that gets there before mid-afternoon. It's fully exposed, so wrap up.

Our day trips from London by train guide compares routes, stations, Advance fares and railcards, plus the longer days to York and Edinburgh that are harder going in winter.