In the wake of an exceptionally wet winter and a mercurial March, the UK is crying out for a settled spell of blue skies to coax us out of our coats.
While forecasts for the coming weeks are changeable, some areas are more prone to drier, sunnier conditions. And the good news is that in many parts, May is – on average – the sunniest month of the year.
After scouring Met Office data on the 11 regional climates of the UK and the Channel Islands, and digging into their rainfall and sunshine averages over the past 30 years, here are eight places that are more likely than most to offer a sunny, rain-free escape in May and June.
Take a walk on Eastbourne Pier (Photo: Paul Thompson/Getty)Eastbourne and the Seven Sisters, East Sussex
Eastbourne has a strong track record when it comes to the weather. In July 1911, it recorded the UK’s highest monthly total of sunshine hours – that remains unbeaten and the town has remained one of the nation’s sunniest, driest spots since. With average sunshine hours of 235, 237, and 232, May, June and July come out as the sunniest months to visit.
A grande dame of the British seaside, it has a three-mile beach, Victorian pier and beach hut-backed promenade. Walk to the top of 530ft Beachy Head for views of the chalk Seven Sisters cliffs and have a drink at the pub on the precipice. Or head a little further west to the National Trust’s Birling Gap to stand at the spot where the South Downs meet the sea, or into the National Park to find the mysterious Long Man of Wilmington chalk figure.
In town, seek out Little Chelsea, the area around Grove Road and South Street that earned its name for the abundance of boutiques, bookshops and cafes.
Plus, keep an eye out for blue plaques pointing out where writer Lewis Carroll and Peter Pan illustrator Mabel Lucie Attwell stayed.
A feature of the seafront for more than 150 years, the five-star Grand Hotel has doubles from £220. Also overlooking the sea, Port has smart doubles from £89 in May.
The coastline at Milford on Sea (Photo: Bernd Brueggemann/Getty)Milford on Sea, Hampshire
Hampshire’s coastline is another of the sunniest places in mainland UK and average annual sunshine hours can exceed 1,800. May, June and July are sunnier than August, with average sunshine hours reaching 222, 230, and 234 compared to 208.
Just 16 miles east of Bournemouth, and a few miles south of the New Forest, Milford on Sea is a dainty village of redbrick gable-roofed buildings, gift shops, galleries and places to eat such as The Cave, with its tapas and floor-to-ceiling wine shelves, or upmarket fish restaurant Verveine.
The main attraction is the four-mile beach, where in warm weather the water is sprinkled with swimmers, windsurfers, paddleboarders and kayakers.
Away from the sand, six walking trails scribble their way through the village, taking in marsh, sea defences, brooks, woodlands and Hurst Castle – an imposing artillery fortress built by Henry VIII, now run by English Heritage. Just beyond is the pony-roamed New Forest.
A night at cabin-style Lymore Orchard, with a firepit and hot tub, 15 minutes’ walk from the coast, costs £150 a night in May via Coolstays. Seven nights at Needles Gap holiday home from £1,061 in May with New Forest Cottages (sleeps five).
The flowering gardens at Cawdor Castle (Photo: Dennis Barnes/Getty)Moray Coast, Highlands
Thanks to the rain shadow cast by the Grampian Mountains, the towns lining the Moray Firth are some of the sunniest and driest in northern Scotland, with average rainfall of 700mm – not far off the 500mm in the driest parts of East Anglia.
Overlooking the Firth, 16 miles east of Inverness, Nairn was crowned Scotland’s best seaside town by Which? last year. Its centre of old red sandstone buildings, lively cafes and pubs gives way to four dune-backed beaches, from where you can sometimes spot bottlenose dolphins and harbour seals from May to September.
Golfers have two Championship courses, while in neighbouring Culbin Forest, walking trails pass pinewoods, ponds and red squirrel sanctuaries. Cawdor Castle and gardens are also nearby, and
Speyside distilleries within reach, too. The Met Office earmarks May and June as the sunniest months, but in August you can catch the last free Highland Games in the country.
Seabank House has simple rooms with touches of tartan, from £153 B&B in May. Glen Lyon Lodge has a resident spaniel and homely doubles from £135 B&B in May.
Stop at The Griffin in Dale (Photo: The Griffin)Milford Haven, Pembrokeshire
With average annual sunshine comparable to many places on the south coast of England, southwest Pembrokeshire is the sunniest place in Wales. Since 1955, Dale Head, a rocky promontory butting out into the western edge of Milford Haven estuary, has held the record for the highest monthly sunshine hours in Wales.
According to University of East Anglia research, this outcrop is also one of the driest westerly coastal locations in the UK. It’s possible to stay here, in a 19th-century fort turned Field Studies Council hostel, with bunks and singles from £24 and doubles from £50, via Booking.com. June is both the sunniest and driest month to visit, with average sunshine hours of 8.7 a day and just eight days of rain.
The Dale Peninsula brings together sheer sandstone cliffs traversed by walking trails, lighthouses and dozens of beaches, including the huge Marloes Sands. Dale village is a cluster of pastel-coloured houses, gift shops and sea-view pubs – try the local seafood at beachside The Griffin.
Walkers can pick up parts of the 186-mile Pembrokeshire Coast Path, while birders can take boat trips out to spot puffins, kittiwakes and gannets on Skomer and Skokholm Islands.
A short walk from the shore, Beachside Glamping Dale has four bell tents, each with a double bed and two singles, plus private shower rooms and cooking facilities. Two-night stays in May from £225 (sleeps up to six with additional fold-out beds available on request).
The picturesque Eden Valley (Photo: visitlakedistrict.com)Eden Valley, Cumbria
It’s no secret the northwest is one of the soggier parts of the UK, but there’s respite in Cumbria’s Eden Valley, thanks to the rain shadow that the higher ground of the Lake District provides. After April, May is the driest month to visit, with under 53mm of rainfall on average.
Hugging the banks of the River Eden, this part of the county is all chequered green countryside and traditional market towns, such as Kirkby Stephen, where the grey stone buildings teem with tea rooms, antique shops and traditional pubs.
Visitors can ride the Eden Valley Railway’s 2.2-mile heritage line, explore the rugged ruins of Brough Castle and walk across the valley’s viaducts. There are three in total, connected by the Viaduct Round walking trail.
Newly refurbished by ex-Soho House designer Georgina Kentish, three-bedroom The Gatehouse, just outside Kirkby Stephen centre, offers stays from £196 a night through Kip Hideaways (sleeps four). The boutique Wilding Hotel, close to Brough Castle, has doubles from £157 in May.
The Victorian seaside town of Ventnor (Photo: Graham Custance/Getty)Ventnor, Isle of Wight
Annual sunshine levels can reach 1,800 hours along the Isle of Wight’s coast, making it one of the sunniest places in the UK. The weather station at Saint Catherine’s Point reports 725mm of annual rainfall, while Shanklin, 10 miles away, sees 941mm, with May, June and July being the driest months at both.
In between these two points, Ventnor has been a popular holiday destination since Victorian times. The town has a 300-metre beach, a botanic garden (known as “Britain’s hottest garden” due to the local microclimate), coastal walking trails and a generous helping of cafes, chippies and pubs. Try the
Spyglass Inn or Smoking Lobster for seafood with sea views, and walk to Steephill Cove beach for fish pasties at The Crab Shed.
Close by there’s the Isle of Wight Donkey Sanctuary, the Dinosaur Expedition Centre, and Blackgang Chine, one of the UK’s oldest theme parks. St Boniface Down, a five-minute drive away, is one of the best places on the island for stargazing.
Overlooking the seafront, The Terrace Rooms & Wine has doubles from £250 including a four-course breakfast and nightly wine tastings. A week’s stay at the beach-front, two-bedroom Villa Amanti costs £972 from 4 May with Simply Owners.
St Ouen’s Bay, Jersey
The Channel Islands excel when it comes to sunshine, with some areas exceeding 1,900 hours a year, compared to the UK average of 1,402. June and July are the sunniest months to visit, with 8.8 hours of sun daily, followed closely by May, which averages 8.3 hours.
St Ouen’s Bay, in Jersey, is a prime spot for soaking up the sun, with the longest beach in the Channel Islands. It’s also popular for surfing, windsurfing, and blokarting – riding in wind-powered karts,available with Absolute Adventures.
Overlooking the bay are attractions like the Channel Islands Military Museum and free-to-visit Wetlands Centre. And the War Tunnels – a partially completed underground hospital built by the occupying Germans in the 1940s – are less than a 15-minute drive away.
The new 48-mile Tidal Trail tendrils through St Ouen’s, connecting the bay to spots including hilltop Grosnez Castle and the Strongpoint Corbière German infantry fortifications.
At the southern end of the bay, the Atlantic Hotel has double golf course-view rooms from £130 a night in May. For something quirkier, Jersey Heritage rents out the six-person restored 1930s Art Deco Barge Around chalet from £52.50 per person per night.
Rd cliffs at Old Hunstanton beach (Photo: Joel Santos/Getty)Hunstanton, Norfolk
East Anglia has a strong track record for weather. It was also one of the driest, with just 103mm of rainfall – 62 per cent of the region’s seasonal average over 30 years. It was also one of the driest, with just 103mm of rainfall – 62 per cent of the season’s average.
Hunstanton, on Norfolk’s north-west coast, isn’t nicknamed “Sunny Hunny” for nothing. In May and June, average sunshine hours in this seaside resort are 211 and 200 respectively, and there are just eight or nine days of rain per month.
The town has a wide, sandy beach, and as it’s west-facing you can watch the sun set over the Wash. Away from the arcades of Hunstanton proper you’ll find the dunes and beach huts of Old Hunstanton.
Windswept Holme Dunes and RSPB Titchwell Marsh are just a short drive away, while further afield is Holkham Beach, a wild stretch of sand and nature reserve where royal horses are trained each summer.
Le Strange Arms in Old Hunstanton has doubles from £138 in May, while its recently refurbished sister pub next door, The Ancient Mariner Inn, serves pub classics and local seafood.
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