#1Carlisle
77,729 peopleRain a year·21 days of 10 mm+·#1,561 of 2,537 in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland
Carlisle, #1 on this list · Photo: Bill Harrison · CC BY-SA 2.0Cumbria rankings · Climate
Driest towns in Cumbria
Carlisle is the driest of Cumbria’s 23 towns of 2,500+: 846 mm of rain in a typical year (Met Office, 1991–2020). The typical town here gets 1,179 mm.
Rain in a typical year, in millimetres. Met Office HadUK-Grid 1991–2020 averages on its 2 km grid, the cells inside each town averaged (contains Met Office data © Crown copyright). A described list: no letters. The rank across England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland sits beside each figure.
#1846mm
#2Appleby-in-Westmorland
3,233 peopleRain a year·27 days of 10 mm+·#1,647 of 2,537 in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland
#3Brampton
4,187 peopleRain a year·24 days of 10 mm+·#1,858 of 2,537 in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland
All 23 towns, ranked
Rain a year, lowest first. Towns smaller than a 2 km cell share its figures. Towns with the same figure share a rank (T = tied). Each rank across England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland links to the national list.
23 towns.
#TownRain a yearDays 10 mm+UK rank
Quick answers
Questions people ask
What is the driest town in Cumbria?
Carlisle: 846 mm of rain in a typical year, the most in October 88 mm. Appleby-in-Westmorland and Brampton follow.
How are these towns ranked?
By the rain that falls in a typical year, least first, from the Met Office’s 1991–2020 averages on its 2 km grid: the cells inside the town, or the one nearest its centre for a town smaller than a cell. The figure is the one on each town’s Climate page.
Why isn’t my town on this list?
The list covers Cumbria’s towns of 2,500+ with the figure. Smaller places show it on their own pages; every town in Cumbria is on the county page.
Go deeper
All Cumbria rankings →More Cumbria lists
Every list ranks the same 2,500+ towns, so a town’s rank means the same thing on each.
Best places to live23 towns · #1 Grange-over-SandsBest small towns16 towns · #1 Grange-over-SandsMost affordable towns23 towns · #1 Cleator MoorSafest towns23 towns · #1 SeatonTowns with the best schools23 towns · #1 KendalHealthiest towns23 towns · #1 KeswickBest towns for jobs & income23 towns · #1 WindermereMost walkable towns23 towns · #1 AmblesideTowns with the lowest flood risk23 towns · #1 MillomBest towns for the outdoors23 towns · #1 KeswickMost historic towns23 towns · #1 Appleby-in-WestmorlandTowns with the most civic life23 towns · #1 Grange-over-SandsTowns with the highest household incomes23 towns · #1 CockermouthDescribed, no lettersTowns with the lowest council tax23 towns · #1 CarlisleDescribed, no lettersTowns with the mildest winters23 towns · #1 WorkingtonDescribed, no lettersTowns with the warmest summers23 towns · #1 CarlisleDescribed, no lettersTowns with the coolest summers23 towns · #1 Cleator MoorDescribed, no lettersTowns with the fewest frosts23 towns · #1 Barrow-in-FurnessDescribed, no lettersWettest towns23 towns · #1 AmblesideDescribed, no letters
County by county
Driest towns, county by county
AberdeenshireBedfordshireBerkshireBuckinghamshireCambridgeshireCheshireClwydCornwallCounty DurhamCumbriaDerbyshireDevonDorsetDyfedEast Riding of YorkshireEast SussexEssexFifeGloucestershireGreater ManchesterGwentHampshireHertfordshireHighlandKentLancashireLeicestershireLincolnshireLondonMerseysideMid GlamorganNorfolkNorth LanarkshireNorth YorkshireNorthamptonshireNorthumberlandNottinghamshireOxfordshireShropshireSomersetSouth LanarkshireSouth YorkshireStaffordshireSuffolkSurreyTyne and WearWarwickshireWest GlamorganWest MidlandsWest SussexWest YorkshireWiltshireWorcestershire
Sources: . All under the Open Government Licence v3.0.
Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Contains HM Land Registry data © Crown copyright and database right 2026. Contains OS data © Crown copyright and database right 2026 (ONS boundaries). Northern Ireland: Source: NISRA; contains Land & Property Services data and Ordnance Survey of Northern Ireland information, © Crown copyright, licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Scotland: contains National Records of Scotland data, Registers of Scotland data and SEPA data, © Crown copyright / © SEPA 2025, licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.