London Marathon weather: Sunny start followed by cool temperatures ideal for runners
Weather on the day of the London Marathon will be mostly dry with pockets of sunshine and cool temperatures.
The Met Office revealed the forecast on Friday, and it will be a relief to many of 50,000 people set to finish the race.
Sunday will likely start out with chilly temperatures around 6C, with a northerly breeze making them feel cooler.
While most of the day is set to be cloudy, there will be several sunny spells throughout and a small chance of rain.
Met Office meteorologist and presenter Alex Deakin said: “If you’ve been training hard for the London Marathon, you’ve probably been training in the rain and under the influence of low pressure.
“Our weather patterns are shifting this weekend and high pressure moving in will bring many of us a fine day on Saturday.
“That high sticks around on Sunday for the big race but it starts to edge back a bit further west which means there will be a bit of a northerly breeze in the southeast and quite a bit of cloud around as well.
“The sun is strong this time of year so while 13C in the afternoon is still on the cool side during the race, if you are running once the sun pops up then it will feel pretty warm.”
It comes after a very wet start to April, where some counties have already seen more than their average rainfall for the whole month.
London Marathon bosses have said they believe they have the appropriate security measures to stop any disruptions protesters might be planning.
Race director Hugh Brasher said he hoped the marathon’s nature as a “force for good” would deter protestors – runners are expected to raise £66.4million for charitable causes at this weekend’s race.
He was especially worried about demonstrators amid “tensions in the Middle East”.
He argued that this should not inspire protest action because people are running for both Palestinians and Israelis who have been affected by Hamas's October 7 attack and Israel’s war in Gaza.
Mr Brasher said: “What we’ve always tried to do is bring people together. Coexistence and togetherness are what the London Marathon is all about.
“And we hope that message will resonate with anyone who thinks it is a good thing to disrupt the race because it isn’t.”