#1Nairn
9,576 peopleRain a year·15 days of 10 mm+·#973 of 2,537 in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland
Nairn, #1 on this list · Photo: Lewis Clarke · CC BY-SA 2.0Highland rankings · Climate
Driest towns in Highland
Nairn is the driest of Highland’s 16 towns of 2,500+: 715 mm of rain in a typical year (Met Office, 1991–2020). The typical town here gets 792 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.
#1715mm
#2Invergordon
3,801 peopleRain a year·13 days of 10 mm+·#1,020 of 2,537 in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland
#T3Culloden
3,699 peopleRain a year·15 days of 10 mm+·#1,125 of 2,537 in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland
All 16 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.
16 towns.
#TownRain a yearDays 10 mm+UK rank
Quick answers
Questions people ask
What is the driest town in Highland?
Nairn: 715 mm of rain in a typical year, the most in October 80 mm. Invergordon and Culloden 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 Highland’s towns of 2,500+ with the figure. Smaller places show it on their own pages; every town in Highland is on the county page.
Go deeper
All Highland rankings →More Highland lists
Every list ranks the same 2,500+ towns, so a town’s rank means the same thing on each.
Most affordable towns16 towns · #1 ThursoTowns with the best schools15 towns · #1 SmithtonHealthiest towns16 towns · #1 Milton of LeysMost walkable towns16 towns · #1 Fort WilliamTowns with the lowest flood risk16 towns · #1 Culloden and 2 moreTowns with the lowest council tax16 towns · #1 Alness and 15 moreDescribed, no lettersTowns with the mildest winters16 towns · #1 CaolDescribed, no lettersTowns with the warmest summers16 towns · #1 Muir of OrdDescribed, no lettersTowns with the coolest summers16 towns · #1 Fort WilliamDescribed, no lettersTowns with the fewest frosts16 towns · #1 InvergordonDescribed, no lettersWettest towns16 towns · #1 Fort WilliamDescribed, 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.