I am considering walking the Isle of Man Costal Path in early December. The Cicerone guide book for this walk states it can be walked throughout the year and I am interested in what the weather conditions may be like at this time of the year. I can handle rain & wind on occassion, but I want to avoid the walk if there is a chance that it will rain every day or if the walk is indeed particaularly hazardous at this time of year.
The Isle of Man just gets the same weather as Northern England. Early December could be wall-to-wall rain, or it could be lovely and sunny all the time. Chances are that it'll be a bit of both, and there's no chance of obtaining any kind of weather forecast until a few days before you plan to start. That's the joy and curse of our weather! I've walked round the coast a couple of times and apart from the usual advice of taking care near cliff edges and the sea, it's no more hazardous than usual.
If you're planning to walk from one B&B to another, then you might find some of them closed at that time of year. On the other hand, if you want to 'commute' to and from the coast path, that's easily done using public transport. The Isle of Man has a good bus service, plus amazing steam trains, electric trams and even horse-drawn carriages at Douglas. You can buy a ticket that gives you unlimited access to everything that moves for a whole week, which you might find excellent value, especially if you want to exolore other places further inland.
