Surrey

Welcome to Surrey!

Situated in South East England, south of Greater London, Surrey is a smallish county but contains much of interest. Although some parts are suburban extensions of Greater London, there are also the characteristic rolling hills of the North Downs featuring picture postcard villages with names like Abinger Hammer and large woodland areas. The name “Surrey” comes from the Saxon “Sudergona” or “Suthridge” - southern region - and Kingston (now in Greater London) saw several Saxon kings crowned there.

Surrey also includes Runneymede, an island on the River Thames where in 1215 King John signed the Magna Carta, assigning rights to the Barons, the Church and freemen. On the other side of the county, the town of Epsom gave rise to production of “Epsom Salts” and also the famous race course for the Derby.

The sunniest places in England are along the south coast, and May and June usually have the most sunshine, whilst December is the lowest month. Rainfall varies widely,
with the Lake District being the wettest region, followed by the Pennines and the moors of southwest England. However, East Anglia, much of the Midlands and eastern & the southeast are the driest.

On average, it rains about one day in three in England, perhaps somewhat more often in winter. July is usually the warmest month, and the southwest is the warmest region.
Coastal areas tend to be less cold than inland in winter, except in the east and northeast when winds are onshore from the east (less than 10% of the time).

Snow is pretty rare near sea level in England, and the amount of snowfall everywhere varies tremendously from year to year, although on in the north and on higher ground there can be significant falls between December and March.

Be prepared to wrap up well in winter, but also bring a cardigan and mac for the vagaries of the English summer! The weather forecasts are pretty accurate, and a lot of information is available on the government weather site at www.meto.gov.uk