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The Rain Ledger: rain days by town, counted hour by hour

Rain days by town for 100 English towns, two whole years of them: 1,754,400 hourly readings from the Met Office 2 km model. Pick a town to see every day of 2024 and 2025, its dry working days month by month (the days a conservatory roof can be swapped) and its noise nights, then hear how loud rain is on polycarbonate and glass.

Showing Kendal, the town with the most noise nights, until you pick yours.

Kendal

Cumbria and Lancashire. Ranked 1 of 100 for noise nights, 97 of 100 for dry working days.

Full Kendal page
238
dry working days a year
92
noise nights a year
81
hours of heavy rain
1,787 mm
rain a year
20241,781 mm of rain, 231 dry working days
20251,792 mm of rain, 245 dry working days
  • Dry or a trace
  • Under 1 mm
  • 1 to 5 mm
  • 5 to 15 mm
  • Over 15 mm
  • Dry working day
Dry working days by month
  1. 21Jan
  2. 19Feb
  3. 24Mar
  4. 23Apr
  5. 23May
  6. 18Jun
  7. 19Jul
  8. 19Aug
  9. 16Sep
  10. 22Oct
  11. 18Nov
  12. 20Dec

dry working days, the three highest picked out. Average of 2024 and 2025.

Noise nights by month
  1. 9.5Jan
  2. 6Feb
  3. 7Mar
  4. 7Apr
  5. 5.5May
  6. 8.5Jun
  7. 7Jul
  8. 9Aug
  9. 7Sep
  10. 8Oct
  11. 9Nov
  12. 8Dec

noise nights, the three highest picked out. Average of 2024 and 2025.

Best months to book: March, April, May. Longest dry spell of working days: 28 in a row.

1,528 wet hours a year, by how hard it rains
  • Light (under 0.5 mm an hour)647 h
  • Moderate (0.5 to 4 mm)800 h
  • Heavy (over 4 mm)81 h

Hear the gap between two roofs

In the lab, heavy rain on 25 mm polycarbonate measures 64.6 dB; on double glazed roof glass, 52.0 dB. Pick a roof and a kind of rain to see the level, then press play to hear the difference as a rain-like hiss at matched relative loudness. It is an illustration of the gap in decibels, not a recording, so keep your volume where it is while you switch.

Roof
Rain

61.9 dB

25 mm polycarbonate in natural heavy rain, estimated from the BRE lab figure

How loud is rain on a roof? Measured and estimated levels in decibels
  • ETFE pillow roof, lab heavy rainBRE68.7 dB
  • 25 mm polycarbonate, lab heavy rainBRE64.6 dB
  • Polycarbonate, natural heavy rain (estimate)BRE, Liverpool61.9 dB
  • Roof window, laminated double glazing, lab heavy rainForum Acusticum52.5 dB
  • Double glazed roof glass, lab heavy rainBRE52.0 dB
  • Polycarbonate, natural moderate rain (estimate)BRE, Liverpool45.7 dB
  • Glass, natural moderate rain (estimate)BRE, Liverpool33.1 dB
  • 75 mm aluminium panel roofNo published testNo published figuren/a
  • Vacuum cleanerNIDCD70 dB
  • Normal conversationNIDCD50 to 65 dB
  • Fridge hummingNIDCD40 dB
  • WhisperNIDCD30 dB
  • WHO: single noises in a bedroom at night, not aboveWHO45 dB
  • WHO: bedroom average through the night, not aboveWHO30 dB

Roof figures are A-weighted sound intensity levels from laboratory rain at 40 mm an hour (BRE IP 2/06 and a 2026 Forum Acusticum study). Natural rain estimates apply the University of Liverpool offsets (natural heavy rain 2.7 dB lower, moderate 18.9 dB lower). Everyday sounds and WHO guidance are sound pressure levels, shown for scale, not as a like for like comparison. Nobody has published a rain test for 75 mm aluminium skinned conservatory panels, and we have not measured ours.

How to read it

  1. Pick your townChoose from the list; the nearest town in the ledger is close enough, rain does not stop at the boundary.
  2. Read the stripEach sliver is a day, darker for more rain. Orange marks are dry working days.
  3. Check the monthsThe tall orange columns are the months a roof swap is easiest to book.
  4. Listen to the gapPlay the polycarbonate and glass levels against each other, then get a guide price.
Most noise nights a year

A year on average, 2024 and 2025. All 100 towns in the league table.

About the Rain Ledger

Where does the rain data come from?

The Met Office UKV model at 2 km resolution, hour by hour for 2024 and 2025, through the Open-Meteo historical forecast service. It is model data for each town centre, not a rain gauge in your garden.

What counts as a dry working day?

A day with under 0.2 mm of rain between 8am and 4pm. 0.2 mm is the threshold the Met Office uses for a rain day, applied here to working hours only.

What is a noise night?

A night with at least one hour of moderate or heavier rain, 0.5 mm or more, between 11pm and 7am. Those are the hours a lightweight roof is loudest over a sleeping house.

Why is there no decibel figure for the panel roof?

Because nobody has published a lab rain test for 75 mm aluminium skinned conservatory panels and we have not measured ours. We show what is measured and leave the gap honest.

Can I use the data?

Yes, under CC BY 4.0 with credit to One Dry Day and Open-Meteo. The whole table is a CSV on the league table page.

The method, every threshold and the sources are on how we counted the rain. All 100 towns ranked side by side: the Noise Nights league table. Questions about the data: talk to us.

Find out what your roof would cost

Seven taps and a postcode give you a guide range straight away. A free survey turns it into a written price, and the forecast chooses the day.

Start my guide priceSee my town's rain