Cycle routes in United Kingdom: which way and when
United Kingdom: 25 routes with wind, rain and heat by month. The best month is most often September (21/25); data: ERA5 2006–2025.
Routes
| Route | Length | Best months | Best way |
|---|---|---|---|
| EuroVelo 2 – Capitals Route (United Kingdom) | 858 km | June, September (peak September) | Holyhead → Harwich |
| EuroVelo 1 - Atlantic Coast Route - part United Kingdom 2 | 733 km | May–June, September (peak September) | either |
| National Cycle Network Route 4 | 646 km | June, September (peak September) | Fishguard → London |
| National Cycle Route 2 | 599 km | June, September (peak September) | St. Austell → Dover |
| EuroVelo 12 - North Sea Cycle Route - part United Kingdom 7 | 521 km | September | either |
| Mercian Way | 404 km | September | either |
| NCN National Route 1 | 307 km | June, September (peak September) | either |
| EuroVelo 12 - North Sea Cycle Route - part United Kingdom 2 | 274 km | September | Lincoln → Norwich |
| Avenue Verte London ↔ Paris | 273 km | June–July, September (peak September) | either |
| Hadrian's Cycleway | 254 km | June, September (peak September) | Ravenglass → South Shields |
| EuroVelo 12 - North Sea Cycle Route - part United Kingdom 6 | 250 km | June, September (peak September) | either |
| EuroVelo 12 - North Sea Cycle Route - part United Kingdom 3 | 240 km | September | Lincoln → Whitby |
| EuroVelo 12 - North Sea Cycle Route - part United Kingdom 8 | 229 km | June, August–September (peak June) | either |
| Yorkshire Wolds Cycle Route | 228 km | September | either |
| National Cycle Network Route 5 (Reading – Birmingham) | 218 km | September | either |
| NCN National Route 76 | 201 km | September | either |
| EuroVelo 12 - North Sea Cycle Route - part United Kingdom 1 | 171 km | June, September (peak September) | Colchester → Norwich |
| NCN National Route 21 | 158 km | June, September (peak September) | either |
| National Cycle Route 23 | 157 km | September | Ventnor → Reading |
| National Cycle Network Route 5 (Flint – Stafford) | 150 km | June, September–October (peak September) | Flint → Stafford |
| North West Trail | 119 km | June, September (peak September) | near Enniskillen → Strabane |
| National Cycle Route 165 | 117 km | September | Barnard Castle → Whitby |
| EuroVelo 2 - Capitals Route - part Irish Sea | 113 km | May–June, September (peak June) | Dublin → Holyhead |
| NCN National Route 18 | 109 km | June, September (peak June) | Royal Tunbridge Wells → Canterbury |
| EuroVelo 1 - Atlantic Coast Route - part St George's Channel | 103 km | May–June, September (peak June) | Rosslare → Fishguard |
Other routes through United Kingdom
| Route | Length | Best months | Best way |
|---|---|---|---|
| EuroVelo 2 - Capitals Route - part North Sea | 214 km | June, September (peak June) | Harwich → Hoek van Holland |
How to read the numbers
Wind is the 10 m wind of a 25-km grid cell, daytime hours 9:00–18:00 local solar time; at saddle height in a sheltered valley it is weaker, on a coast or ridge stronger. A positive value is a tailwind. ERA5 slightly over-counts days with ≥ 1 mm of rain (by about 5–7 percentage points) and underestimates daily highs by 1–2 °C. Good day = less than 1 mm of rain between 9:00 and 18:00 (riding hours, local solar time) and a high between 10 and 30 °C; rain at night or in the evening does not spoil it.