Average Sunshine a Year in the United Kingdom

The tables below give yearly averages for the hours of sunshine at cities and towns across the United Kingdom. The annual totals are based on weather data collected from 1991 to 2020.

The UK as a whole averages 1403 hours of sun a year.

Southern England

Total annual sunshine
Place Hours
Birmingham 1501
Bristol 1485
Dover 1770
Isles of Scilly 1708
London, Greenwich 1526
London, Kew Gardens 1693
Norwich 1611
Nottingham 1487
Plymouth 1732
Southampton 1706
Stoke-on-Trent 1485
Weymouth 1904

Northern England

Average amount of sunshine yearly
Place Hours
Ambleside, Windermere Lake 1225
Berwick-upon-Tweed 1535
Dumfries 1309
Hull 1559
Manchester 1385
Middlesbrough 1395
Newcastle upon Tyne 1337
Prestwick 1401
Sheffield 1485

Wales

Annual average sun
Place Hours
Cardiff 1573
Llandrindod Wells 1279

Scotland

Number of sunny hours a year on average
Place Hours
Aberdeen 1447
Dundee 1461
Edinburgh 1449
Glasgow 1280
Inverness 1250
Kirkwall, Orkney Islands 1210
Lerwick, Shetland Islands 1158
Stornoway, Outer Hebrides 1256
Tiree, Inner Hebrides 1524

Northern Ireland

Average total sunshine yearly
Place Hours
Armagh 1279
Belfast 1277
Londonderry 1359
Reference

Met Office. Research programmes. Climate science. UK Climate Averages.

United Kingdom Sunshine
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