UKCP09: UK Long-Term Average Monthly Days of Rainfall ≥1 mm on a 5km Grid

UKCP09 5km gridded data provides monthly averages for the number of days with rainfall of at least 1 mm. The dataset contains 12 files, one for each month, representing the long-term average period from 1961 to 1990. It was created with financial support from the UK Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) and is promoted by the UK Climate Impacts Programme.

Use Cases

• Modeling baseline UK precipitation climatology based on the 1961-1990 average period.
• Analyzing spatial patterns of rainy days across the UK based on the 5km gridded format.
• Comparing historical monthly rainfall frequency for climate change impact studies.
• Validating hydrological or agricultural models against long-term average rainfall data.

Strengths

• Data represents a standardized 30-year climatological baseline (1961-1990).
• Spatial coverage is the UK at a consistent 5km grid resolution.
• Dataset consists of 12 monthly files, providing temporal granularity.

Limitations

• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.
• Data freshness should be verified; the last metadata update was 2026-07-08.

Provenance

Source

Met Office, UK

Collection Method

Gridded data product derived from station observations.

Time Range

1961-1990 (average period)

Freshness

Last updated 2026-07-08 13:32:20.072627; freshness should be verified

Geography

United Kingdom