London Night Weather and Darkness
On most attractions the weather decides how comfortable a visit is. Here it decides whether the visit happens at all, because the thing you are buying is darkness and London's supply of it swings by five and a half hours across the year.
This page is the month-by-month version of that. London night bus tour lists the departures it applies to.
What the weather does to a night tour here
Two things, and only one of them is what people expect. Rain is the minor one: the walking tours run in all weathers, both buses have an enclosed lower deck, and wet roads double every light in the city, which is why photographers book them deliberately.
The major one is the light. A tour that leaves at half past seven is a night tour in December and a daylight tour in June, and both open-top operators state as much in their own small print rather than hiding it. If a floodlit skyline is what you are paying for, the month you visit matters more than any other single factor.
Cold is the third factor and it is entirely solvable. An open top deck at twenty miles an hour in January is colder than the pavement outside your hotel, and being underdressed is the single commonest complaint in the reviews of both bus routes. One more layer than you think, plus a hat, and it stops being a factor.
London month by month
Sunset and civil dusk below are for central London, computed for mid-month in local clock time with British Summer Time applied. Civil dusk is the point at which the floodlighting wins and the sky stops competing with it.
January
The darkest month you can comfortably book. Sunset is at 16:21 and full civil dusk follows at 16:59, so a 7.30pm departure runs three hours into the night. Expect high single figures and a real wind on the river. Wrap up properly and January gives you the longest, blackest sky of the year.
February
Sunset moves to 17:15 and the evenings start to feel less like a closed door. Cold, often clear, and the least crowded month on this market by a distance. Every departure still runs in complete darkness. If you dislike queues, this is your month.
March
Sunset is 18:05 at mid-month, and then the clocks go forward on 29 March and take an hour of your evening with them. Before that date a 7.30pm tour is fully dark; after it, marginal. Book the earlier half of March if darkness matters.
April
Sunset at 19:57 means the 7.30pm departure now leaves in daylight and finishes in the dark. The city is warmer and the top deck is bearable without gloves. Take the later departure and you get the whole thing lit.
May
Sunset at 20:45 and civil dusk at 21:27, so an early evening tour is a daylight tour. The extra departures of the summer timetable start running. This is the month to switch to the last bus of the night or to a private cab you can start late.
June
The hardest month for a night tour. Sunset is 21:19, civil dusk 22:07, and London never reaches astronomical darkness at all in June. The 10.15pm departure is the only one that runs in anything like the dark. Come for the long evenings and treat the lighting as a bonus.
July
Barely different from June: sunset 21:12, dusk 21:56, and a warm still evening more often than not. The latest departures work; the 7.30pm does not. Walking tours are at their most comfortable, which is some compensation.
August
Sunset drops back to 20:24 and the evenings start returning. A 9.15pm or 9.45pm departure now runs properly dark. Warm enough for the top deck in shirtsleeves, which is true of almost no other month.
September
Sunset at 19:16 puts the 7.30pm departure right on the edge of the light, which is arguably the best of both. Mild, often settled, and the last month before the timetables change. Many regular visitors think this is the month to do it.
October
Sunset at 18:08, and then the clocks go back on 25 October and hand you an extra hour of darkness overnight. Every departure is dark from the end of the month. Wet more often than not, which the photographers welcome.
November
Sunset at 16:12 and dark by five. The Christmas displays go up on the shopping streets through the month, so the city gains a second layer of light. Cold, damp and the point at which this market comes alive.
December
The best month for this and the busiest. Sunset is 15:52 mid-month and the earliest sunset of the year, 15:51, falls around the twelfth. Every display is up and every departure runs in full darkness. Book well ahead and dress for standing still.
The seasons, and which one you want
November to February is what this market is built for. Dark by five, every departure running in full night, the Christmas displays up for six weeks of it, and the highest prices and the fullest buses as a result. Bring the coat.
March and October are the quiet compromise, and they are underrated. Properly dark by the time the evening departures leave, far easier to book, and the clocks change in both, which shifts everything by an hour overnight.
April, September give you a tour that starts in the last of the light and ends in the dark. Some people prefer this to either extreme, because you see the city change rather than arriving after it has.
May to August is the difficult stretch. Take the latest departure of the evening, or book a private cab you can start at nine, or accept that you are getting a long warm evening tour rather than a night one. There is nothing wrong with the second option provided nobody sold it to you as the first.
Best time of evening
The hour after civil dusk, wherever that falls in your month. The floodlighting is already on, the sky still holds enough blue to separate the buildings from it, and photographs taken then look like the ones that sold you the idea. An hour later the sky is black and flat and the same shot is harder.
That means the 7.30pm departure in December and the last departure of the night in June, which is the opposite of what most people book.
Frequently asked questions
Will it definitely be dark on my tour?
Between October and March, yes, on any departure. Between May and July, no, unless you take the last one of the evening. The table above gives the sunset and dusk time for the month you are visiting.
Do tours get cancelled for rain?
Rarely. The walking tours advertise that they operate in all weather, and the buses run with a covered lower deck. If the forecast changes your mind, every departure here refunds in full up to 24 hours ahead.
How cold does the open top deck get?
Colder than the air temperature, because the bus is moving and you are not. In December treat it as several degrees below whatever your phone says. A hat and gloves solve it entirely.
When do the clocks change?
British Summer Time begins on 29 March 2026 and ends on 25 October 2026. Sunset jumps by a full hour overnight on both dates, so an evening that was dark last week may not be this week, and the other way round in October.
The short version. If you want the floodlit city, come between October and March and book anything. If you are here in June, book the latest departure of the night or a private cab you can start at nine. The format page says which is which.
The planning page pairs this with the departure timetables and what to expect covers the cold in detail. Every departure is on London Night Tours.
Departures that suit a winter evening
London Christmas Lights Private Tour by Traditional Black Cab
Private groupHotel pickupGuide included
From $549 per group (up to 6)