Grey Capitals

The weather has never been one of the UK’s strongest qualities. In fact, it’s one of the negatives, which is why we do our best to make the most of any good weather that might come our way.

The UK has also experienced some extreme weather in the past, which can lead to businesses losing electricity for extended periods. And it unpredictably makes it increasingly important for business owners to invest in a reliable business energy supplier.

That’s why we wanted to find out which UK areas have the worst weather. We’ve looked at the annual averages for hours of sunshine, millimetres of rainfall, and days of rainfall to find out which areas of the UK have the worst weather.

1. Burnley – 0.20 Weather score

The UK area with the worst weather is a crown shared between two Northern cities. One of which is Burnley, with a weather score of 0.20 out of 10. Between 1991 and 2020, Burnley averaged more rainfall and more days of rainfall than any other UK area. To make matters worse for those living in Burnley, just three areas of the UK have less sunshine hours each year.

2. Manchester – 0.20 Weather Score

Sharing the top spot with Burnley is Manchester, also with a weather score of 0.20 out of 10. Manchester has less sunshine than any other UK area, as well as the second-highest number of days with rainfall. Just two areas of the UK sit above Manchester when it comes to millimetres of rainfall, and both of them feature in our top ten.

3. Preston – 0.55 Weather Score

It’s a North West top three, with Preston taking the third spot with a weather score of 0.55 out of 10. Between 1991 and 2020, Preston averaged the third highest amount of sunshine hours, as well as the most days with rainfall.

1. Southend-on-Sea – 9.86 Weather score

The UK area with the best weather is Southend-on-Sea with a near-perfect weather score of 9.86 out of 10. Over the last 30 years, Southend-on-Sea has averaged the fewest millimetres of rainfall, as well as the fewest days of rainfall each year. The coastal area also boasts the third-highest hours of sunshine, making it the perfect place to enjoy the seaside.

2. Ipswich – 9.25 Weather score

Ipswich takes second place with a weather score of 9.25 out of 10. The East Anglian town has the fourth fewest millimetres of rainfall and the fewest days of rainfall. It also ranks sixth for the most hours of sunshine. Along with its great weather, Ipswich is famous for being one of the oldest towns in England.

3. Slough – 8.50 Weather score

Slough is the UK area which completes our top three, with a weather score of 8.50 out of 10. Slough boasts some really good weather, ranking in the top 10 for all categories. The town has the fifth-fewest days of rainfall, with an average of 112 per year over the last 30 years.

1. Hastings – 1,914 average annual sunshine hours

Hastings takes the top spot as the sunshine capital of the year, averaging 1,914 hours of sunshine a year. Hastings is located on the southeast coast of England, making it the perfect place to enjoy the seaside in the sun. Hastings is also a fishing port, with the UK’s largest beach-based fishing fleet.

2. Eastbourne – 1,892 average annual sunshine hours

In second place, and less than an hour along the southeast coast from our sunshine capital, is Eastbourne, which averages 1,892 hours of sunshine a year. Eastbourne is a popular tourist destination, which is understandable given its weather and beaches. It’s also an increasingly popular place to live, with the population rising from 89,000 to 101,000 in the last ten years.

3. Southend-on-Sea – 1,884 average annual sunshine hours

Completing our top three is Southend-on-Sea, averaging 1,884 sunshine hours a year. Southend’s closest weather station is Shoeburyness, located just six miles away from the town centre. As well as being home to some of the UK’s best weather, Southend-on-Sea is home to the longest pleasure pier in the world, which is over 2 km long.

1. Manchester – 1,265 average annual sunshine hours

Manchester takes the top spot, averaging just 1,265 hours of sunshine annually. This means that the sun shines for less than 15% of the year. To make matters worse for its residents, Manchester has the second-highest number of rainfall days in the UK. If you do live in Manchester and want to get out and see the sun, then your best opportunity to do so is May, when the sun shines for 170 hours of the month.

2. Belfast – 1,277 average annual sunshine hours

Northern Ireland’s capital, Belfast, takes second place with an average of 1,277 hours of sunshine every year. Like Manchester, the sun shines in Belfast for less than 15% of the year. May is once again the best month to experience the sun, as it shines for 185 hours of the month. December is, predictably, the worst month for sunshine.

3. Preston – 1,367 average annual sunshine hours

Preston completes our top three with an average of 1,367 hours of sunshine each year. Unfortunately for Preston residents, the city experiences the third highest number of rainfall days, with 158. However, you will get 175 hours of sunshine during May.

1. Burnley – 1,315mm average annual rainfall

Burnley takes the top spot, averaging more than 1.3 metres of rainfall a year. The worst month of the year for Burnley’s rainfall is December, where they receive an average of just under 160 millimetres. The best month is April where an average of 65 millilitres are recorded

2. Cardiff – 1,203mm average annual rainfall

The Welsh Capital takes second place with an average of 1,203 millimetres of rainfall per year. Just like Burnley, December is the worst month for rainfall, and April is the best, averaging 139 millimetres and 72 millimetres respectively.

3. Manchester – 1,197mm average annual rainfall

Completing our top three is Manchester, with an average of 1,197 millimetres of rainfall per year. December is once again the worst month for rainfall, with almost 140 millimetres of rainfall recorded during the last month of the year. However, the best month is May which records almost 66 millimetres of rainfall on average.

1. Southend-on-Sea – 527mm average annual rainfall

Southend-on-Sea takes the top spot with an average of just over 525 millimetres of rainfall each year. Southend-on-Sea proves to be a brilliant place to visit, with the most sunshine, and the fewest millimetres of rain. In addition to this, Southend also has the fewest days of rainfall.

2. Cambridge – 559mm average annual rainfall

Cambridge takes second place with an average of almost 560 millimetres of rainfall each year. This is almost half the rainfall that the top five UK areas get each year. The month with the fewest millimetres of rainfall is March, with just 32 millimetres. And the month with the most rainfall is October with 59 millimetres.

3. Bexley – 563mm average annual rainfall

Bexley completes our top three, averaging almost 563 millimetres of rainfall annually. Interestingly, Bexley has fewer days of rainfall than Cambridge in second place. Rainfall occurs during 105 days of the year, which means Bexley’s rainfall comes in fewer days. July is the month with the fewest millimetres of rainfall, and November is the month with the most.

Methodology

We created a seeding list of the top 50 most populated cities using World Population Review.

We then used the Met Office to find the average hours of sunshine, the average millimetres of rainfall, and the days of rainfall where at least 1 mm was recorded between 1991 and 2020.

To find this information, we searched for the closest weather station for each of our cities. We then removed cities which had the same closest weather station, as well as the weather stations with incomplete data. We then replaced the removed cities with the next most populated cities to conclude our seeding list.

We then put each of these factors into a weighted table, giving each factor a normalised score out of 10. We then took an average of these scores to get our weather scores.