Summer is coming and that means hot days and warm nights. While you may be able to get away with mediocre dates in the winter months, when you are holed up in your home due to the harsh weather (though we recommend you try to make your winter dates great too), during the summer months you need to step your game up. Here are 5 great date ideas for summer. Just remember to bring along an umbrella in case British weather doesn't cooperate with your date.

1. Enjoy a Traditional Winter Activity

Specifically, go skiing or ice skating. These activities already have the hallmarks of great date activities. They require physical activity and offer plenty of opportunity to engage in conversation. And, because they are traditionally winter activities, there generally won't be any crowds, giving you more privacy with your partner. Indoor ice rinks are usually open year round and if you can even find year round ski resorts, especially if you are willing to take a weekend trip to the Alps.

2. Drive Along the Shore Looking for New Beaches

One of the main advantages to living on a giant island is that you are completely surrounded by easily accessible beaches. During the summer everyone heads out to the beach, but most people flock to the most popular beaches, those found near tourist towns. Forgo overpriced lemonade and chips, bring along a picnic lunch, and go exploring for a new, little used beach.

Between the time spent chatting in the car while enjoying the fabulous scenery of small towns and rolling hills and the time spent enjoying the enjoying the sand and sea on a nearly private beach you just discovered, you will have a date that you will remember for years.

3. Bike or Roller Skate Around Town

At this point you should be seeing a pattern emerging in these suggestions. Great dates often involve physical activity and new or unique ideas. Summer doesn't change that. The warm weather just offers different opportunities that exist during cooler times of the year.

For this date, you will be exploring your home town or city, or maybe travelling to a different city by car and exploring it. The important part is that you are specifically trying to explore places you haven't seen before. By doing it on bike or skates, you are moving slow enough that you can really see everything, but fast enough to discover lots of new, interesting places. When you do find something exciting, stop and enjoy it, whether that means purchasing lunch from a quaint restaurant, trying a new type of local ale, or even playing on a jungle gym at the local park.

4. Meet New People

Summer is a great opportunity to meet new people from around the world, especially if you live in or near London. Tourists flock to major UK cities in the summer and this is your opportunity to meet them.

All you really need to do with this date is hang out near common tourist attractions (Big Ben, Palace of Westminster, Stonehenge, etc.) and start up conversations with the foreigners. It is a lovely day to spend a day, and you will probably make new friends while learning about other people and places. If you get lucky and really hit it off with some people, you can enjoy lunch or dinner with new friends.

5. Watch a Movie

You are probably thinking that you can watch a movie any time of the year and you'd be right. What you can't do any time of the year, though, is watch a movie outside. The U.K. has a wide assortment of summer outdoor movies and theatres. You can watch a movie on the beach at Brighton Big Screen, enjoy an indie film while supping on barbecue and cocktails at the Rooftop Film Club, or even watch a movie on board a ship at the floating Cinema.

These events take place all around the country and many are available in the afternoon as well as the evening. Additionally, if you prefer traditional theatre to the silver screen, there are plenty of outdoor theatre troops, like Shakespeare in the Park, that run summer tours. These activities don't offer a lot of time to talk to your date, but sometimes you just want some quiet moments relaxing in each others company.