The driest seaside towns for a summer staycation without the rain

Research by hotel booking platform, hoo, has revealed which seaside towns offer the best chance of a summer staycation without the need to pack an umbrella.

With foreign travel remaining uncertain for another year, it’s looking like a second summer of staycations for UK holidaymakers. Of course, the one uncertainty where a staycation is concerned is the Great British weather and having basked in a heatwave in recent weeks, recent downpours have reminded us of this unpredictability.

On average across England and Wales, 938 millimetres of rain falls in a year. However, the good news is that hoo analysed rainfall across 51 major seaside towns and found that 90% of them come in below the national average.

The best bet for a rain-free staycation is Essex, home to the top three seaside towns with the lowest levels of rain per year. Southend-on-Sea ranks top with an average of just 515mm, with Clacton-on-Sea (549mm) and nearby Felixstowe (561mm) also offering the best chance of staying dry this summer.

Further north, Cleethorpes sees an average of just 588mm of rainfall per year, with Herne Bay in Kent (593mm) also making the top five.

Other seaside staycation destinations with some of the lowest levels of rainfall include Margate, Whitley Bay, Skegness and Great Yarmouth.

Watch out all those heading to Cornwall though. Surfers’ bolthole Newquay is one of three seaside towns with over 1,000mm of annual rainfall – 8% over the national average. Penarth in Wales is the wettest with 1,152mm of rainfall a year, with Morecambe (1,049) and Newquay (1,017) following close behind.

hoo Co-founder, Adrian Murdock, commented:

“If last summer taught us anything, it’s that we don’t have to board a plane to have an outstanding holiday by the beach and many of us will be rediscovering just how much Britain has to offer in this respect.

Of course, the one spanner in the works of a great staycation is often the British weather and a week of rain can really dampen the holiday mood.

The good news is that the vast majority of British seaside towns are home to below-average levels of rainfall and so fingers-crossed it turns out to be a great couple of months ahead. But a trip to the seaside wouldn’t be the same without a little bit of drizzle and if the worst comes to the worst, another British institution can provide refuge while it rains – the pub.”