<p>To begin with, rainfall is not always uniform. Within any rainfall event there can be localized anomalies with lesser or greater amounts of rainfall, including deluge type events. In addition to looking at recorded rainfall data you should look for <a href="https://www.metoffice.gov.uk/weather/maps-and-charts/rainfall-radar-forecast-map#?model=ukmo-ukv&amp;layer=rainfall-rate&amp;bbox=%5B%5B51.88583130730151,-3.4717675888511588%5D,%5B52.9296173475589,0.18942625880509215%5D%5D" rel="nofollow noreferrer">rain radar</a> data. Such data is usually presented as a video with color coded moving images of rainfall intensity for a particular region during a given time period.</p>
<p>The location of weather stations in the UK will be determined by the Met Office.</p>
<p>Given the size of Leicester, it seems unusual that the <a href="https://www.metoffice.gov.uk/weather/observations/gcr5qn5jy" rel="nofollow noreferrer">UK Met Office</a> does not have at least one rain gauge or weather observation station in Leicester.</p>
<p>Regarding the Met Office apparently only having data of 48 hours. It might only display such data online for 48 hours but it maintains all weather observation data within its database. You might have to pay to obtain the data for the date in question.</p>
<p>Aviation can be greatly affected by weather, it is not unusual for weather stations to be located at airports. There may be a weather station at <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leicester_Airport" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Leicester Airport</a>, for which you could obtain data. The caveat that I'll apply to this is as I stated in my first paragraph, weather can be highly variable and the rainfall event you claimed occurred at your house may not have occurred at the airport, or elsewhere.</p>
<p>I would advise getting the rain radar data for that day, prior to and just after the time of the rainfall event in question.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2023-07-13T13:44:45.323Z
To follow up Fred's comment, a very useful source for gauged rainfall data from in England is provided by the Environment Agency at https://environment.data.gov.uk/hydrology/landing.  A gauge on their network  in the area recorded 48mm on the 22nd June, which is about 80% of the normal monthly rainfall.
Andy M
CC BY-SA 4.0
2023-07-13T15:46:32.060Z
@AndyM Good catch, and many of the neighboring gauges also show notable totals on that day.  You should add this as an answer.  (The EA data I looked at earlier didn't show much for some reason.)
Deditos
CC BY-SA 4.0
2023-07-13T01:19:07.147Z
2023-07-13T01:19:07.147Z
Fred
<p>On 22 June 2023, in my village in LE8, south Leicester, UK, there was an enormous deluge of rain, and my house got lightly flooded - the only time ever in 30 years. I'm trying to make a claim now; the insurers have gone online and looked at the weather for Leicester on that date via timeanddate.com, World Weather Online, etc. They say there wasn't enough rain on that date to have caused flooding in a structurally sound building - which they do, only 2.2mm max I've seen.</p>
<p>Why is this? Looking at the Meteo centre, we're in the middle of an empty spot for professional weather stations. Could this be why? Are professional weather stations the only places to record weather? So when I look up our postcode in south Leicester, historical weather on time or similar, is it just interpolating between adjacent weather stations?</p>
<p>Will a city like Leicester have a weather recording device, or is it only in these relatively infrequent weather stations that it is officially recorded?</p>
<p>Also, the met office seems to have data for the past 48 hours, but for no longer than this (except for special weather events). Why do they only show 48 hours' worth?</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2024-09-02T07:15:12.097Z
Contact the Met Office directly for an official statement on their best estimate for rainfall amounts for your location.  Providing such statements is part of their duties.  They might charge a fee for the service.  The law does not expect that citizens do their own weather data analysis to claim a weather damage through insurance.
gerrit
<meteorology><weather-forecasting>
Weather record last month in the UK
Oliver Walters
# Weather record last month in the UK

(Asked by: username_0 on 2023-07-12)

On 22 June 2023, in my village in LE8, south Leicester, UK, there was an enormous deluge of rain, and my house got lightly flooded - the only time ever in 30 years. I'm trying to make a claim now; the insurers have gone online and looked at the weather for Leicester on that date via timeanddate.com, World Weather Online, etc. They say there wasn't enough rain on that date to have caused flooding in a structurally sound building - which they do, only 2.2mm max I've seen.

Why is this? Looking at the Meteo centre, we're in the middle of an empty spot for professional weather stations. Could this be why? Are professional weather stations the only places to record weather? So when I look up our postcode in south Leicester, historical weather on time or similar, is it just interpolating between adjacent weather stations?

Will a city like Leicester have a weather recording device, or is it only in these relatively infrequent weather stations that it is officially recorded?

Also, the met office seems to have data for the past 48 hours, but for no longer than this (except for special weather events). Why do they only show 48 hours' worth?

**Tags:** meteorology, weather-forecasting

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: Contact the Met Office directly for an official statement on their best estimate for rainfall amounts for your location.  Providing such statements is part of their duties.  They might charge a fee for the service.  The law does not expect that citizens do their own weather data analysis to claim a weather damage through insurance.  

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## 1 answers

### Answer by username_2 on 2023-07-13. Score: 3 | Accepted answer

To begin with, rainfall is not always uniform. Within any rainfall event there can be localized anomalies with lesser or greater amounts of rainfall, including deluge type events. In addition to looking at recorded rainfall data you should look for [rain radar](https://www.metoffice.gov.uk/weather/maps-and-charts/rainfall-radar-forecast-map#?model=ukmo-ukv&layer=rainfall-rate&bbox=%5B%5B51.88583130730151,-3.4717675888511588%5D,%5B52.9296173475589,0.18942625880509215%5D%5D) data. Such data is usually presented as a video with color coded moving images of rainfall intensity for a particular region during a given time period.

The location of weather stations in the UK will be determined by the Met Office.

Given the size of Leicester, it seems unusual that the [UK Met Office](https://www.metoffice.gov.uk/weather/observations/gcr5qn5jy) does not have at least one rain gauge or weather observation station in Leicester.

Regarding the Met Office apparently only having data of 48 hours. It might only display such data online for 48 hours but it maintains all weather observation data within its database. You might have to pay to obtain the data for the date in question.

Aviation can be greatly affected by weather, it is not unusual for weather stations to be located at airports. There may be a weather station at [Leicester Airport](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leicester_Airport), for which you could obtain data. The caveat that I'll apply to this is as I stated in my first paragraph, weather can be highly variable and the rainfall event you claimed occurred at your house may not have occurred at the airport, or elsewhere.

I would advise getting the rain radar data for that day, prior to and just after the time of the rainfall event in question.

> **Comments:**
> **username_3**: To follow up username_2's comment, a very useful source for gauged rainfall data from in England is provided by the Environment Agency at https://environment.data.gov.uk/hydrology/landing.  A gauge on their network  in the area recorded 48mm on the 22nd June, which is about 80% of the normal monthly rainfall.  
> **username_4**: @username_3 Good catch, and many of the neighboring gauges also show notable totals on that day.  You should add this as an answer.  (The EA data I looked at earlier didn't show much for some reason.)  

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