Will it ever stop raining?
Met Office gives grim forecast for days ahead
If it feels to you like it never stops raining, you would be accurate rather than pessimistic as, so far in 2026, there has not been one day without a recorded UK shower.
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Britain is famous for its rain, but the year so far has been unrelenting for south-west England and South Wales, where there has been more than a drop for 37 days and counting.
And spare a thought for Aberdeen, where there has been no sunlight without cloud or mist for more than two weeks, the longest period of gloom since records began in 1957.
Here is what we know about why it has been so wet and if and when it will ever end.
Keep the brolly handy this afternoon as more rain is on the way for most, this heavy in places ☔
— Met Office (@metoffice) February 6, 2026
Driest in northwest Scotland with sunny spells developing in between the downpours in the south and southwest 🌦️
Mild in the far south but cold and rather windy in the north 🌡️ pic.twitter.com/RrxKE9mMUn
What is the weather forecast for the week ahead?
Met Office operational meteorologist Dan Stroud said: "Unfortunately, there's no end in sight."
The rain is to continue in South West England and in South Wales, at least, into this weekend with fall predicted by the Met Office into at least Sunday.
A yellow rain warning runs from 5am on Thursday to 9pm Friday for parts of Wales, south-west and south-east England and the West Midlands.
Another yellow warning is in place for Northern Ireland from midday Thursday to midnight on Friday, and a snow warning is active from 3pm Thursday to 3am Friday across parts of the East Midlands, north-east and north-west England and Yorkshire.
There is also rain forecast this weekend for London and the South East.
Why has it been so rainy?
The Met Office has blamed the wet weather on a jet stream, a powerful ribbon of air which flows several miles above the Earth’s surface.
This jet stream has been positioned further south than is usually expected at this time of year, which has led to low-pressure systems being directly channelled towards the UK.
This has thus brought on an increase of rain and wind heading towards the British aisles.
“At the same time, high pressure has also established over parts of northern Europe,” the Met Office has said.
“This has created a blocked pattern, preventing any significant shift in the position of the jet stream and limiting our chances of more settled, drier weather developing.” The Met Office added that it could take a large-scale weather change for the country to be shaken out of its funk.
“When the atmosphere becomes stuck in this sort of regime, it can take time for the large-scale pattern to reset,” the centre added.
Rain warnings have been updated 🌧️
— Met Office (@metoffice) February 6, 2026
Southwest England and central southern England are now warning free, but yellow warnings for rain continue across parts of Wales, the West Midlands and most of Northern Ireland ⚠️
Further details here👉 https://t.co/QwDLMfRBfs pic.twitter.com/AODDfdtEUX
Will it ever brighten up?
The initial outlook appears bleak and it seems sunnier skies might only be seen later in the month.
“As we head deeper into February, projections point towards the jet stream nudging northwards again” the Met Office said.
Until then, the low pressure seems to be sticking around - although there are at least no further named storms currently forecast.