Would you still go to London in the heat this Saturday?

[Royanne]

We live a few hours from London in a not very exciting place. A couple of times a year DH goes to London to do a volunteering thing, and DD12 and I usually take the opportunity to go with him, and spend the day doing our own thing. Always really look forward to it.

We're supposed to be there on Saturday but now it's forecast to be 33 and I'm wondering whether it will be too hot traipsing around, getting the tube etc. Our plan was to do some shopping in the morning and the V&A in the afternoon.

Would you still go?

It will be hit but shops and the v&a have air con. Take water and a fan. Millions of people commute in this.

You'll be fine. Hire bikes are nice for the breeze!

v&A has a beautiful fountain and paddling pool out in the garden. Take a towel and cossie for your DD. Also I think it has air con.
shopping…department stores will be cool, obviously markets, not so much, so depends on what you have in mind. I think it’s doable.!

Thanks. Good tip re the towel for the fountain!

London is easy to navigate without using the underground, which is the only thing I would actively avoid in such heat.

Do you mean buses? We've never done buses in London but we could I suppose!

Do you mean buses? We've never done buses in London but we could I suppose!

Yes, that and legs.

Buses are very easy to use, but it depends what you are planning to do; a lot is walking distance.

I'd just go.

The underground is uncomfortable in the heat but it's not the end of the world.

Take a handheld fan with you.

Not averse to walking but where we're starting and ending the day isn't really walking distance to where we'll be going. Will look at the buses though

Stay off the buses. They are sweltering! The Circle Line and District Lines are air condtioned so use them for South Ken if at all possible.

I actually think London is better than many towns in the heat. More air con and in the areas with tall buildings lots of shade. It was 32 allegedly today but I wasn't hot and I'm not great in the heat.

Can you say where it is?

Not a chance! I live in London, you couldn’t pay me to go public transport in this weather, it will be 40+ on the tube and the buses will be only slightly better. Too hot to walk around, I’d be staying at home.

Uber boat?

They're quite reasonably priced and fun!

St John's Wood. Wanted to go from there to Regent St in the morning, then to South Kensington at lunch, back to St John's Wood late afternoon.

It won't be 40 degrees on the air conditioned lines. Central, Northern, Picadilly, Victoria, Jubilee and Bakerloo get hot. District, Circle, Hammersmith and City, Metropolitan, Elizabeth Line will be fine. The Overground is often freezing in hot weather.

Absolutely.
I was there in July when it was hot and I had a brilliant time.
As has already been said, the V&A has a pool to paddle in, it's lovely and cool in there anyway, and there's loads of ice cream places nearby.

Would you be able to go to one of the outdoor pools?

Yes! Lovely and sunny ☀️ - lots of people in the parks.

Yes, I’m here now, hot and busy but fine, I dipped into the portrait gallery for an air conditioned respite, it’s fine, will get cooler by the weekend

Sorry I should have said I was on the Elizabeth line today, I would stick to new lines

Thanks. It's the tube I'm worried about the most I think and we can't do it all on the air conditioned lines.

personally I wouldn’t dream of it; I hate the heat though and actively avoid it!

There's no way I'd be going with a 33c forecast. But I'm really intolerant of that level of heat.

I’d still use the tube over the buses. The journeys you mention won’t take that long by tube, so it may not be that pleasant but at least it will only be a few minutes. Whereas buses are really slow.

I would go. There are a lot of good info on this thread about tube etc don’t forget your sunhats and water bottles. You’ll be ok.

I'd love it!