Britain’s wettest spots revealed in new study ahead of possible El Niño downpours this autumn
The parts of the UK that usually receive the most rain during autumn have been revealed, at a time when the country could be heading into a much wetter end to the year.
The Met Office has warned that the El Niño developing in the Pacific may be the strongest for more than a century. Its effects are expected to be felt around the world and, for the UK, forecasters are seeing signs of increased rainfall and stormier weather around November.
This follows an exceptionally hot and dry summer which left much of England and all of Wales in drought. While a wetter autumn would help replenish water supplies, sudden or sustained rainfall after months of dry weather may also bring issues for homeowners.
With this in mind, leak detection specialists ADI Leak Detection analysed average September to November rainfall across 305 UK cities and large towns, using figures from 2020 to 2025.
The 15 wettest UK places during autumn
Rank Place Country Region Average September-November rainfall 2020-2025 (mm)
1 Neath Wales Wales 616.6
2 Merthyr Tydfil Wales Wales 568.4
3 Kendal England North West 553.4
4 Rhondda Wales Wales 550.0
5 Bridgend Wales Wales 534.7
6 Llanelli Wales Wales 528.0
7 Swansea Wales Wales 526.4
8 Barrow-in-Furness England North West 522.1
9 Irvine Scotland Scotland 519.3
10 Lancaster England North West 514.4
11 Greenock Scotland Scotland 503.2
12 Kilmarnock Scotland Scotland 474.4
13 Ebbw Vale Wales Wales 472.0
14 Morecambe England North West 470.5
15 Pontypool Wales Wales 451.6
Neath is the UK’s rainiest place during autumn, receiving an average of 616.6mm between September and November. It is the only location in the study to pass 600mm and receives 48.2mm more than anywhere else in the ranking.
Second place goes to Merthyr Tydfil, where an average autumn brings 568.4mm of rain. This is around 8% less than Neath, but still 15mm more than the highest-ranking location outside Wales.
That location is Kendal, which places third overall and first in England with 553.4mm. The Cumbrian town narrowly finishes ahead of Rhondda in fourth. Rhondda averages 550mm, leaving only 3.4mm between the two.
Another two Welsh locations come next. Bridgend places fifth with 534.7mm, while Llanelli ranks sixth on 528mm. The difference between them is only 6.7mm across the whole three-month period.
Nearby Swansea follows in seventh place, averaging 526.4mm. That puts three South Wales locations in a very close group: less than 8.5mm separates Bridgend, Llanelli and Swansea.
Barrow-in-Furness is the second English entry in the table and ranks eighth overall with 522.1mm. It receives around 31mm less than Kendal, the other Cumbrian location in the top 15.
The highest-ranked Scottish location is Irvine, which places ninth with an average of 519.3mm. It is followed by Lancaster in tenth on 514.4mm, meaning less than 8mm separates the locations in eighth, ninth and tenth.
At number 11, Greenock receives 503.2mm during a typical autumn. It is the final location in the ranking with an average above 500mm and records 28.8mm more than Kilmarnock, which places 12th with 474.4mm.
The next two are almost level. Ebbw Vale ranks 13th on 472mm, with Morecambe just 1.5mm behind on 470.5mm. Morecambe is also the fourth North West location to appear, alongside Kendal, Barrow-in-Furness and Lancaster.
Pontypool completes the top 15 with an average of 451.6mm. Its inclusion means eight of the 15 rainiest locations are in Wales. Four are in North West England and the remaining three are in Scotland.
There is a fairly obvious westward pattern to the results, but the small gaps between some locations are important. Places such as Kendal and Rhondda, or Bridgend, Llanelli and Swansea, have very similar averages and should not be treated as having dramatically different autumn conditions simply because they sit a few positions apart.
