#1Fortuneswell
4,554 peopleRain a year·22 days of 10 mm+·#891 of 2,537 in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland
Fortuneswell, #1 on this list · Photo: Raimond Spekking · CC BY-SA 4.0Dorset rankings · Climate
Driest towns in Dorset
Fortuneswell is the driest of Dorset’s 32 towns of 2,500+: 703 mm of rain in a typical year (Met Office, 1991–2020). The typical town here gets 909 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.
#1703mm
#2Weston
5,208 peopleRain a year·26 days of 10 mm+·#1,002 of 2,537 in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland
#3Chickerell
3,973 peopleRain a year·26 days of 10 mm+·#1,311 of 2,537 in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland
All 32 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.
32 towns.
#TownRain a yearDays 10 mm+UK rank
Quick answers
Questions people ask
What is the driest town in Dorset?
Fortuneswell: 703 mm of rain in a typical year, the most in December 88 mm. Weston and Chickerell 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 Dorset’s towns of 2,500+ with the figure. Smaller places show it on their own pages; every town in Dorset is on the county page.
Go deeper
All Dorset rankings →More Dorset lists
Every list ranks the same 2,500+ towns, so a town’s rank means the same thing on each.
Best places to live30 towns · #1 West ParleyBest small towns16 towns · #1 West ParleyMost affordable towns30 towns · #1 FortuneswellSafest towns30 towns · #1 MerleyTowns with the best schools30 towns · #1 BournemouthHealthiest towns30 towns · #1 Ashley HeathBest towns for jobs & income30 towns · #1 MerleyMost walkable towns30 towns · #1 DorchesterTowns with the lowest flood risk30 towns · #1 Alderholt and 8 moreBest towns for the outdoors30 towns · #1 SwanageMost historic towns30 towns · #1 BridportTowns with the most civic life30 towns · #1 Lytchett MatraversTowns with the highest household incomes32 towns · #1 PimperneDescribed, no lettersTowns with the lowest council tax32 towns · #1 Bearwood and 2 moreDescribed, no lettersTowns with the mildest winters32 towns · #1 SwanageDescribed, no lettersTowns with the warmest summers32 towns · #1 BearwoodDescribed, no lettersTowns with the coolest summers32 towns · #1 SwanageDescribed, no lettersTowns with the fewest frosts32 towns · #1 Fortuneswell and WestonDescribed, no lettersWettest towns32 towns · #1 BeaminsterDescribed, 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.