Silent Valley: the wettest day on record

The wettest day on record at Silent Valley

Average annual rainfall at Silent Valley is 1373.6 mm, based on Met Office records for the silent-valley station covering 1961–2025. Rain falls on 164.0 days a year on average, counting days with at least 1 mm. This is wetter than most of lowland England: it sits in the same league as western and upland Britain, where Atlantic weather systems deliver frequent rain-bearing fronts through the year. But even by those standards, the single wettest day on record — 117.6 mm on 29 December 1978 — stands well clear of the rest.

The seasonal split is remarkably even, which is the signature of a genuinely oceanic climate. Winter (December, January and February) brings 394 mm, autumn (September, October and November) 393 mm, summer (June, July and August) 301 mm and spring (March, April and May) 296 mm. There is no pronounced dry season here — even the driest quarter of the year still contributes 296 mm, and the wettest quarter adds only 98 mm more. October is the single wettest month on average at 144.0 mm, with January and December both at 142.4 mm, and November at 140.1 mm.

Average rainfall by month

October is the wettest month on average at 144.0 mm, and it also carries the second-highest daily total ever recorded here: 106.1 mm. December is the month with the heaviest single-day record of all, 117.6 mm. On the other side of the ledger, June is the driest month on average at 89.1 mm, closely followed by May at 89.9 mm and April at 92.3 mm. Yet even June sees 11.3 rain days a year and May 13.5 — there is no month at Silent Valley that you can count on being dry.

The five heaviest rain days on record

Two of the five heaviest days sit back to back in late December 1978: 96.7 mm on 28 December and 117.6 mm on 29 December. That consecutive pair left 1978 with an annual total of 1555.3 mm and a yearly maximum daily fall of 117.6 mm. The rest of the top five are spread across autumn and early winter — 3 October 1981, 15 October 1976 and 7 November 2000 — the months when Atlantic lows most often stall over the British Isles.

Yearly rainfall

The chart shows the complete annual series. The table lists the most notable years; the full series comes from Met Office.

The spread between years is wide. The highest annual total in the series is 2002.3 mm in 2023, a year that also logged 196 rain days and a heaviest single day of 81.3 mm. The lowest is 978.7 mm in 1971, with 135 rain days. Recent years underline how variable this can be: 2021 came in at 978.8 mm with 115 rain days, while 2023 jumped to 2002.3 mm with 196 rain days. Anyone planning outdoor events around Silent Valley should treat a dry spell as a bonus rather than something to rely on.

Frequently asked questions

How much rain does Silent Valley get in a year?

1373.6 mm of rainfall on average per year, according to the silent-valley station in the Met Office records for 1961–2025. That annual figure places it firmly among the wetter parts of the country, well above the driest eastern districts of England.

How many rain days a year does Silent Valley have?

164.0 rain days a year on average, counting days with more than 1 mm of precipitation. In practice that means rain in some form roughly every other day, spread across all twelve months.

Which month is the wettest in Silent Valley?

October, with an average monthly rainfall of 144.0 mm. January and December both average 142.4 mm and November 140.1 mm, so the autumn and early winter run from October to January is the wettest stretch of the year. June is the driest month, averaging 89.1 mm.

What was the heaviest rain day ever recorded at Silent Valley?

29 December 1978, when 117.6 mm fell in a single day at the silent-valley station — the highest daily total in the whole 1961–2025 record. The previous day, 28 December 1978, saw 96.7 mm, the third-highest of the series.

Is Silent Valley a wet or a dry place?

It is a wet one. With 1373.6 mm of rain a year and 164.0 rain days, Silent Valley is wetter than the UK-wide average and far wetter than the drier eastern counties. The seasonal totals stay high year-round — 394 mm in winter, 393 mm in autumn, 301 mm in summer and 296 mm in spring — so there is no dry season to speak of.