The feelgood guide to summer

Summers in London are rarely straightforward. Usually they begin prematurely with two unseasonably warm weeks in April. Everyone gets over-excited. Then it’s overcast for ages. After that, a brutal asphalt-melting heatwave. You know the type. At first it’s exhilarating but by the third day people are jumping into canals and shouting at bins.

But then… something beautiful happens. The temperature chills out a bit, the music turns up, the cold pints are poured, and it all comes together to create that idiosyncratic blend of vibes that we know as a Real London Summer. You can keep your Cote d’Azurian beaches, Sicilian towns and Fijian island paradises. I’ll take Soho sidestreets, Clissold Park and, uh, the massive queues to get up to Frank’s Cafe every time.

The Real London Summer is, of course, as fleeting as it is potent. Before you can say ‘Is it too early for a second 99 Flake?’ it’s over. So you’ll want to take full advantage of every sweet moment of tipsy, sun-kissed bliss, or risk FOMOORLS (fear of missing out on a Real London Summer). Thankfully, we’ve teamed up with mobility super app FREE NOW to create the definitive guide to the sunny season. Food, sport and something called ‘The Black Chapel’, it’s all here. Get stuck in.