Enjoy the summer in London - come rain or shine - with our guide to everything from the best alfresco spots for eating and drinking, great takeaway picnics and ice-creams to order on sweltering days.

When the temperature rises in London, one sure way to beat the heat is grabbing a table in one of these bars and ordering up a load of boozy, frozen drinks. 

If you're heading for a picnic in London's parks, make it a real feast. Here are the best London picnics for you to order and enjoy at your leisure whether you're out in the park or at home in the garden.

The late May bank holiday is our last one for a while, so you need to make the most of your extended weekend. Luckily we've rounded up the best food and drinks things going on in London for the Whitsun weekend so you can do just that.

Updated 14/4/21 with more chefs

Even just a few short weeks ago, we could hardly believe we'd be bringing you news of summer festivals that you could actually book. But now that the government has released details of its roadmap to freedom, summer events are starting to look up.

One of the biggest festivals for foodies any summer has always been The Big Feastival and we've got the scoop on who is

It's the last big hurrah of the summer - three days for you to eat and drink your way round London. And - don't faint dead away now - it's actually supposed to be sunny as well! Here's what London's restaurants and bars have planned for the August bank holiday weekend.

With nightclubs the businesses most affected by the Covid shutdown (and the last to come out of it), it's unsurprising that some have found other ways to make money in the meantime.

Up in Tottenham, The Cause nightclub has done a deal to double the outside space it has, and they're planning to make the most of it over the summer. The club has taken over some of the neighbouring industrial units at their site by Tottenham Hale station, and food

In news that has got us googling prices of train tickets to Padstow, Prawn on the Lawn's Cornwall outpost is switching locations for the summer.

Katie and Rick Toogood, who run the restaurant and fishmongers in Highbury & Islington as well as the place down in Cornwall, are relocating their Padstow restaurant to a nearby Cornish farm for the summer.

Prawn on the Farm will be their summer residence, taking over space at nearby

At a time when there appear to be no summer festivals on the foreseeable horizon, we have to say that this new wheeze from Tom Kerridge and the Pub in the Park team sounds like a perfect substitute.

Drive & Dine Theatre will be a mash-up between a drive-in cinema and a food festival and it's coming to London for the summer. On the movie front, there'll be the world’s largest mobile HD LED screen showcasing crowd-pleaser

If you're looking for a fun way to bump up your five a day intake, may we suggest a trip to the Dominique Ansel Bakery this weekend? For three days only they're holding a Summer Marché.

The idea is to celebrate the best seasonal fruits from around the world. So they're filling their pastry section with 10 rather lovely sounding fruit tarts. They're using blueberries from Hertfordshire, British Jubilee Strawberries grown exclusively at only

As London girds its loins and prepares to do battle with temperatures predicted to hit 37 degrees tomorrow, there are a number of ways you can cool down that are a lot more fun that standing in front of your open fridge.

On Thursday, folk using the Central Line will be met by Deliveroo riders handing out free Judes and Oppo Ice Creams. You can find them at 12pm at Bank, Tottenham Court Road and Bond Street stations.

If you're further east, then maybe

Stuck in London while everyone else is off on their hols? At least if you head to Somerset House over the coming months you can at least pretend you're in Spain.

They've just launched a terrace in partnership with San Miguel. Yes, you're looking over the Thames rather then the Med, but with a chilled beer in your hand and a range of Spanish snacks to choose from, things could be a whole lot worse.

Open daily from lunchtime the bar will serve up a

Updated 4/6/19 with full list of restaurants and dishes

If your idea of heaven is spending hours roaming Taste of London with a free pass to eat all the food in sight, then we have good news for you. For this year's festival, they're offering one lucky London foodie the chance to do just that, becoming one of the Best in Taste Awards tasters.

The winner of the competition will get a chance to

Despite the recent chill, London's summer plans are well underway and the latest spot to reveal their colours for the season are John Lewis. They're bringing in My Million Pound Menu winners BBQ Dreamz for their rooftop space this summer. The newly titled Filipino concept, Bong Bong’s Manila Kanteen will serve up all manner of treats. Here's the menu: 

• Lechon Kawali - Crispy fragrant pork belly, with pickled papaya salad and a Filipino lechon

Over in West London, The Prince is gearing up for its summer season and they're going BIG. Not content with managing to install a retractable electric roof over London's biggest pub garden making it - at a click of a button - British weatherproof, they're also the first to showcase an entirely new concept from the folks at Patty & Bun.

The summer season kicks off on 25 April and,