The opening weeks of 2026 were exceptionally wet across the UK, according to the Met Office, which reported in early February that ‘a strong and unusually southerly jet stream has steered a succession of low pressure systems towards our shores, bringing frequent rain.’

January was markedly wet in several regions, including southwest England, eastern Scotland and Northern Ireland. Cornwall and County Down recorded their wettest January on record, while Northern Ireland saw its wettest January in 149 years. Across the UK, 26 Met Office stations set new monthly records for the highest rainfall in January.

For the winter overall, up to the end of February, England had 35% more rain than the long term average, compared to Northern Ireland (+25%), Scotland (+16%) and Wales (+14%).

The forecast is rain with a slight chance of sun
When it comes to consecutive wet days, at the time of writing, some areas had eclipsed six straight weeks of daily rain.

Chief forecaster at the Met Office, Neil Armstrong, says: “The past few weeks have felt relentlessly wet, with repeated bands of rain sweeping in from the Atlantic and creating increasingly saturated ground across large parts of the UK…southwest England has been particularly wet.”

However, there is no sign that this high level of rainfall will ease up and by the time you read this the situation could be even worse, with parts of the UK at risk of further flooding for months to come.

Unfortunately, the heavy rainfall this year is very likely the new normal. Prior to this winter, between October 2022 and March 2024, England experienced its wettest 18-month period since records began over 250 years ago, with southern England getting 50% more rainfall than normal during that period. The harvest that followed was the second worst since modern records began in 1983, with crops rotting in saturated soil.