THE driest seaside locations have been revealed and you might be pleased to know both of Somerset's biggest beach towns see less rainfall than the UK average – despite this weekend’s downpours and weather warnings.

Calculating which places offer the best chance of a summer staycation without the need to pack an umbrella, hotel booking platform, hoo, gathered rainfall data from the Met Office and information about the largest seaside towns from the Office for National Statistics.

With foreign travel remaining uncertain for another year, it’s looking like a second summer of staycations for UK holidaymakers. Of course, the one uncertainty where a staycation is concerned is the Great British weather.

In fact, Somerset West and Taunton recently found itself topping the list of places with the most unpredictable weather.

However, on average, across England and Wales, 938 millimetres of rain falls in a year - the good news is that after hoo analysed rainfall across 51 major seaside towns and found that 90 per cent of them, including Burnham-on-sea and Weston super Mare, come in below the national average.

The best bet for a rain-free staycation is Essex, home to the top three seaside towns with the lowest levels of rain per year.

Southend-on-Sea ranks top with an average of just 515mm, with Clacton-on-Sea (549mm) and nearby Felixstowe (561mm) also offering the best chance of staying dry this summer.

Coming in around halfway down the table, Burnham sees and average of 755mm per year while finding itself much closer to  the bottom of the list is Weston receiving 900mm of rain each year.

Watch out if you’re heading to Cornwall though. Surfers’ bolthole Newquay is one of three seaside towns exceeding 1,000mm of annual rainfall – 8 per cent more than the national average. Penarth in Wales is the wettest with 1,152mm of rainfall a year, with Morecambe (1,049) and Newquay (1,017) following close behind. 

Adrian Murdock, co-founder of hoom, said: “If last summer taught us anything, it’s that we don’t have to board a plane to have an outstanding holiday by the beach and many of us will be rediscovering just how much Britain has to offer in this respect.

“Of course, the one spanner in the works of a great staycation is often the British weather and a week of rain can really dampen the holiday mood.

“The good news is that the vast majority of British seaside towns are home to below-average levels of rainfall and so fingers-crossed it turns out to be a great couple of months ahead.

“But a trip to the seaside wouldn’t be the same without a little bit of drizzle and if the worst comes to the worst, another British institution can provide refuge while it rains - the pub.”

Average annual rainfall across seaside towns in England and Wales

  1. Southend-on-Sea – 515mm
  2. Clacton-on-Sea – 549mm
  3. Felixstowe – 561mm
  4. Cleethorpes – 588mm
  5. Herne Bay – 593mm
  6. Margate – 593mm
  7. Ramsgate – 593mm
  8. Broadstairs – 593mm
  9. Whitley Bay – 597mm
  10. Lowestoft – 620mm
  11. Gorleston-on-Sea – 620mm
  12. Skegness – 621mm
  13. Bridlington – 621mm
  14. Redcar – 629mm
  15. Great Yarmouth – 636mm
  16. Whitstable – 646mm
  17. Scarborough – 692mm
  18. Ryde – 699mm
  19. Stubbington – 699mm
  20. Shoreham-by-Sea – 723mm
  21. Worthing – 723mm
  22. Littlehampton – 725mm
  23. Bognor Regis – 725mm
  24. Weymouth – 730mm
  25. Bexhill – 751mm
  26. Hastings – 751mm
  27. Burnham-on-Sea – 755mm
  28. Folkestone – 774mm
  29. Eastbourne – 795mm
  30. Seaford – 795mm
  31. Rhyl – 814mm
  32. Colwyn Bay – 814mm
  33. Deal – 817mmm
  34. Poole – 829mm
  35. Bournemouth – 835mm
  36. Christchurch – 835mm
  37. Formby – 837mm
  38. Paignton – 848mmm
  39. Torquay – 848mm
  40. Exmouth – 848mm
  41. Fleetwood – 883mm
  42. Southport – 883mm
  43. Blackpool – 883mm
  44. Lytham St Anne's – 883mm
  45. Weston-Super-Mare – 900mm
  46. Clevedon – 900mm
  47. Falmouth – 999mm
  48. Barry – 999mm
  49. Newquay – 1017mm
  50. Morecambe – 1049mm
  51. Penarth – 1152mm

England and Wales – 938mm