Things to Do in United Kingdom in December
December weather, activities, events & insider tips
December Weather in United Kingdom
Is December Right for You?
Advantages
- Christmas markets transform city centers into atmospheric shopping experiences - London, Edinburgh, Manchester, and Birmingham all run markets from late November through December with mulled wine, roasted chestnuts, and craft stalls typically open 10am-10pm daily. The festive decorations along Oxford Street, Regent Street, and Covent Garden are genuinely spectacular and completely free to enjoy.
- Shorter daylight hours (roughly 8am-4pm) actually work in your favor - attractions are less crowded before 10am and after 3pm, museums stay open late for evening visits, and you can pack a surprising amount into the day if you start early. The early darkness makes pub culture more appealing and justifiable at 5pm.
- Theater and cultural programming peaks in December with Christmas pantomimes, West End shows adding extra performances, and major museums mounting special exhibitions. You'll find significantly more evening entertainment options than summer months, and booking 2-3 weeks ahead typically secures decent seats at reasonable prices (£30-80 for most shows).
- Accommodation pricing outside London drops considerably compared to summer - expect to pay 30-40% less in cities like Bath, York, and Edinburgh during the first three weeks of December. The week between Christmas and New Year reverses this trend entirely, but early-to-mid December offers genuine value for quality hotels.
Considerations
- Daylight runs roughly 8am-4pm in most of England, even shorter in Scotland (around 8:30am-3:30pm in Edinburgh). This genuinely limits outdoor sightseeing and makes countryside day trips feel rushed. If you're planning to photograph landscapes or explore rural areas extensively, you'll find the short days frustrating.
- The damp cold feels more penetrating than the actual temperature suggests - 5°C (41°F) with 70% humidity and wind feels significantly colder than dry continental winters. First-time visitors from warmer climates consistently underestimate this. You'll need proper layering, not just a single heavy coat.
- Many smaller attractions, country houses, and coastal businesses operate reduced hours or close entirely for winter maintenance during December. Always verify opening times within 48 hours of your visit - websites often show summer schedules by default. This particularly affects National Trust properties and seaside towns.
Best Activities in December
London Christmas Market and Festive Walking Tours
December transforms London into a genuinely festive experience worth planning around. The South Bank Christmas markets, Winter Wonderland in Hyde Park, and Covent Garden decorations create atmospheric evening walks when the early darkness actually enhances the experience. The cold weather makes ducking into historic pubs feel earned rather than lazy. Self-guided walks work well, but organized walking tours (typically 2-3 hours) provide historical context about British Christmas traditions that you'd miss otherwise. The crowds are significant but manageable if you visit weekday mornings before 11am or after 7pm.
Edinburgh Winter Festival and Hogmanay Preparation
Edinburgh in December offers two distinct experiences - the first three weeks feature the Christmas market and ice skating in Princes Street Gardens with Edinburgh Castle as backdrop, then the city shifts into Hogmanay (New Year) preparation mode after December 26th. The cold feels more honest here than London's damp chill, and the shorter daylight (8:30am-3:30pm) means you're experiencing the city as locals do - mostly in darkness. The festival atmosphere peaks evenings and weekends. Worth noting that Hogmanay tickets for December 31st sell out months ahead, but the street party atmosphere builds throughout the last week of December even without official tickets.
Bath and Cotswolds Day Trips
The Cotswolds villages look genuinely picturesque under December's grey skies and occasional frost, though you need to manage expectations around daylight - tours typically run 9am-5pm, giving you perhaps 6 hours of actual daylight for sightseeing. Bath's Roman Baths and Georgian architecture work well in winter because they're substantially indoor experiences with atmospheric lighting. The Christmas market in Bath (first three weeks of December) is less crowded than London's and more manageable for a day trip. The cold weather makes the thermal spa experience in Bath particularly appealing as an afternoon activity.
York Christmas Festival and Historic Walking
York manages to feel authentically medieval in December rather than theme-park medieval, partly because the cold and darkness create atmosphere that summer visits lack. The Christmas festival runs throughout December with markets around the Minster, and the city's compact size means you can cover major sights (York Minster, Shambles, city walls) in a day despite short daylight. The Viking and Railway museums offer substantial indoor time when the weather turns genuinely miserable. York works particularly well for travelers who find London overwhelming - it delivers historic British atmosphere at a more manageable scale and pace.
West End Theatre and Entertainment
December is genuinely the best month for London theater - not just because of Christmas shows, but because theaters add extra performances and the early darkness makes evening shows feel more natural than summer's late sunsets. Pantomimes (a peculiar British tradition involving cross-dressing, audience participation, and surprisingly adult humor) run throughout December and offer cultural insight you won't get from straight plays. The West End also mounts major productions specifically for the holiday season. The cold weather outside makes the warm theaters more appealing, and you can easily combine matinee performances (typically 2:30pm) with Christmas market visits.
Traditional British Pub and Food Experiences
The cold, damp weather makes December ideal for understanding why British pub culture exists - when it's dark at 4pm and drizzling, a warm pub with a proper fire becomes genuinely appealing rather than a daytime indulgence. December menus feature seasonal British food (game meats, root vegetables, warming puddings) that makes more sense than summer pub fare. London's historic pubs are atmospheric in winter, and organized food tours (typically 3-4 hours, visiting 4-5 establishments) provide context about British food culture that's hard to grasp independently. The Christmas period also brings mince pies, mulled wine, and other seasonal specialties that aren't available other months.
December Events & Festivals
Winter Wonderland Hyde Park London
London's largest Christmas event runs mid-November through early January in Hyde Park, featuring a massive Christmas market, ice skating, circus performances, and fairground rides. It's genuinely impressive in scale though quite commercial and crowded on weekends. Entry is free but individual attractions cost £5-15 each. The atmosphere peaks early evening (5pm-8pm) when the lights are most effective against the darkness.
Edinburgh Christmas Festival and Hogmanay Preparation
The official Edinburgh Christmas festival runs late November through early January with markets, ice skating, and fairground rides in Princes Street Gardens. The city then transitions into Hogmanay preparation after Boxing Day (December 26th), with the famous New Year street party on December 31st. Even without tickets to the main Hogmanay event, the city has a distinctive festive atmosphere throughout late December that's worth experiencing.
Christmas Markets Nationwide
Most major British cities run Christmas markets throughout December - Birmingham's Frankfurt Christmas Market is the largest outside London, Manchester's markets spread across multiple city center locations, and Bath's market occupies the historic city center. These typically open late November and run through December 23rd, closing Christmas Eve. They offer mulled wine, roasted chestnuts, craft items, and Germanic food stalls. Weekday evenings (5pm-9pm) offer the best atmosphere-to-crowd ratio.