Some Britons will head to the beach come rain or shine.
But those who only venture to the seaside during moments of ‘shine’ should pay close attention to Met Office rainfall data that reveals the nation’s 20 rainiest seaside destinations. And taking the top spot? It’s Aultbea.
The fishing village, in the Scottish Highlands, has an average of 121mm of rainfall every month, with more than half the year – 209 days – seeing more than 1mm of daily rainfall.
Overall, five seaside spots in Scotland appear in the ranking as well as seven in Wales, three in Northern Ireland and five in England. Among them is Blackpool plus two popular beach towns in Devon and Cornwall.
The ranking was drawn up from former BBC weather presenter Owain Wyn Evans’ analysis of the Met Office data in partnership with Sykes Holiday Cottages.
Analysis of Met Office data reveals that Aultbea, above, is the UK’s rainiest coastal destination
The Isle of Tiree (pictured) is second in the ranking, with 106mm of monthly average rainfall
Scotland takes all three spots of the undesirable winners’ podium, with the Isle of Tiree, Inner Hebrides, in second (106mm monthly average rainfall) and Lochboisdale, Outer Hebrides, in third (100mm).
The Scottish streak continues with Helensburgh, Argyll and Bute (137mm), in fourth, followed by Portrush in County Antrim, Northern Ireland, in fifth (81mm).
Rounding off the top ten is Fair Isle, Shetland, Scotland (sixth, 77mm); St Bees, Cumbria, England (seventh, 92mm); Cardiff, South Glamorgan, Wales (eighth, 100mm); Tenby, Pembrokeshire, Wales (ninth, 95mm); and Milford Haven, also in Pembrokeshire (tenth, 90mm).
Scotland’s Lochboisdale in the Outer Hebrides takes the bronze, with an average monthly rainfall of 100mm
Helensburgh in Argyll and Bute ranks fourth with 137mm of average monthly rainfall
Those planning a UK beach getaway might also want to steer clear of Cornwall’s popular seaside town of Bude.
While Visit Cornwall says it’s ‘well known for its great beaches’ and ‘unique townscape’, it has an average monthly rainfall of 75mm, which puts it 17th in the ranking.
Other popular beach destinations on the list are England’s Slapton, Devon (19th, 93mm) and Blackpool, Lancashire (20th, 73mm).
Tenby in Pembrokeshire, Wales, is ninth with an average 95mm of rainfall each month
Cornwall’s popular seaside town of Bude is 17th in the ranking
On a sunnier note, the analysis shows that seaside towns are drier overall than the rest of the UK, getting an average 75mm of rainfall a month, compared to 97mm for the rest of the nation.
Moreover, separate research of 2,000 UK adults found that 72 per cent don’t let typical wet British weather get in the way of a good staycation.
And 61 per cent don’t think it would be a British holiday if it didn’t rain, with sightseeing (53 per cent), strolls along the pier (37 per cent), and tucking into fish and chips on the seafront (30 per cent) among the activities they would do regardless, according to the survey.
Blackpool ranks 20th on the list, receiving an average 73mm of rainfall per month
Commenting on the findings, Evans, who is now a BBC Radio 2 DJ, said: ‘I love that even in the rain, holidaymakers will still embrace a Great British staycation.
‘Us Brits won’t let a bit of wet weather keep us indoors, and I’d argue some activities can even be better with a few raindrops.
‘Despite my experience as a weather presenter, the exact detail on rain, especially showers, can be hard to predict, so hopefully this analysis will give Brits some idea of what to expect and plan for if they’re heading to a seaside location this year.’
