How much does it rain in the UK?

Find out how much rain we get in the UK and where gets the most rainfall.

Where gets the most rain?

As can be seen in the map below, the wettest parts of the UK are concentrated in mountainous regions with observation sites in Snowdonia, the Lake District and the Scottish Highlands all receiving more than 4 metres of rainfall in a year.

Rainfall average (1981 - 2010) Rainfall average (1981 - 2010)

Other rainy parts of the UK include:

  • North west England - especially the Lake District in Cumbria and western facing slopes of the Pennines.
  • Western and central Wales - particularly the mountainous Snowdonia region in the north.
  • South west England - mainly the higher elevation areas of Dartmoor, Exmoor and Bodmin moor.
  • Parts of Northern Ireland.

These areas all have common characteristics, given their high elevations (or even mountainous status) and their northern or western locations in the UK.

AreaRainfall (mm)
5Ross and Cromarty1858.1

Why do some places get more rain than others?

The map shows a clear divide between the north-west and south-east of the UK. The prevailing warm moist westerly winds mean that the west of the UK is more likely to receive rainfall from Atlantic weather systems - in the form of frontal rainfall. These weather systems usually move from west to east across the UK and as they do so the amount of rainfall they deposit reduces. This is because the mountains in the north and west of the UK cause lots of the rainfall to fall in those locations as the clouds are too 'heavy' to move over the higher ground - this is known as orographically enhanced or relief rainfall. Of course, frontal and orographic rainfall are not the only rainfall mechanisms, but they are the most common.

Last updated: 26 March 2015

Measuring rainfall