Precipitation - Cities and FUAs — Change in extreme precipitation in London
London: Precipitation - Cities and FUAs — Change in extreme precipitation was 0.1413 Days per year in 2024. ◆ Volatile
Precipitation - Cities and FUAs — Change in extreme precipitation in London, 1981–2024
Source: Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. Measured in Days per year.
Analysis
In 2024, precipitation - cities and fuas — change in extreme precipitation in London stood at 0.1413 Days per year.
That represents a change of up 114.3% on the previous year and up 162.4% over ten years.
Over the whole period, precipitation - cities and fuas — change in extreme precipitation in London peaked at 2.81 Days per year in 2021 and was at its lowest, -1.3 Days per year, in 2005.
That places London 832nd out of 1314 groups with data for 2024, putting it in the middle of the range.
The series is highly variable year to year, so single readings are best treated with caution.
Precipitation - Cities and FUAs — Change in extreme precipitation in London, year by year
| Year | Days per year | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1981 | -0.479 Days per year | — |
| 1982 | 1.72 Days per year | -459.1% |
| 1983 | -0.915 Days per year | -153.2% |
| 1984 | -1.17 Days per year | +27.9% |
| 1985 | -0.5514 Days per year | -52.9% |
| 1986 | -0.1519 Days per year | -72.5% |
| 1987 | 2.67 Days per year | -1856.0% |
| 1988 | -0.1171 Days per year | -104.4% |
| 1989 | -0.8974 Days per year | +666.3% |
| 1990 | -0.4069 Days per year | -54.7% |
| 1991 | -0.3339 Days per year | -18.0% |
| 1992 | 0.0674 Days per year | -120.2% |
| 1993 | -0.7703 Days per year | -1243.6% |
| 1994 | -0.406 Days per year | -47.3% |
| 1995 | -0.2615 Days per year | -35.6% |
| 1996 | -0.3162 Days per year | +20.9% |
| 1997 | -0.7346 Days per year | +132.3% |
| 1998 | 0.2121 Days per year | -128.9% |
| 1999 | 0.43 Days per year | +102.8% |
| 2000 | 1.23 Days per year | +185.9% |
| 2001 | 0.394 Days per year | -68.0% |
| 2002 | 0.2484 Days per year | -37.0% |
| 2003 | 0.083 Days per year | -66.6% |
| 2004 | 0.5556 Days per year | +569.5% |
| 2005 | -1.3 Days per year | -333.6% |
| 2006 | 0.1758 Days per year | -113.5% |
| 2007 | 0.4464 Days per year | +154.0% |
| 2008 | 1.1 Days per year | +147.0% |
| 2009 | -0.2425 Days per year | -122.0% |
| 2010 | -0.28 Days per year | +15.5% |
| 2011 | -0.4063 Days per year | +45.1% |
| 2012 | 1.65 Days per year | -505.4% |
| 2013 | 0.7754 Days per year | -52.9% |
| 2014 | -0.2265 Days per year | -129.2% |
| 2015 | 1.14 Days per year | -603.1% |
| 2016 | 0.0113 Days per year | -99.0% |
| 2017 | 1.56 Days per year | +13680.6% |
| 2018 | -0.7165 Days per year | -146.0% |
| 2019 | 0.8099 Days per year | -213.0% |
| 2020 | 0.5574 Days per year | -31.2% |
| 2021 | 2.81 Days per year | +404.7% |
| 2022 | 0.7936 Days per year | -71.8% |
| 2023 | -0.9897 Days per year | -224.7% |
| 2024 | 0.1413 Days per year | -114.3% |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1980s | 0.0117 Days per year | -1.17 Days per year | 2.67 Days per year | 9 |
| 1990s | -0.252 Days per year | -0.7703 Days per year | 0.43 Days per year | 10 |
| 2000s | 0.2695 Days per year | -1.3 Days per year | 1.23 Days per year | 10 |
| 2010s | 0.4311 Days per year | -0.7165 Days per year | 1.65 Days per year | 10 |
| 2020s | 0.6631 Days per year | -0.9897 Days per year | 2.81 Days per year | 5 |
More reference data data for London
- Cooling and heating degree days - Cities and FUAs — Cooling degree 9.19 Degree days (2025)
- Cooling and heating degree days - Cities and FUAs — Change in cooling -7.46 Degree days (2025)
- Cooling and heating degree days - Cities and FUAs 1,579 Degree days (2025)
- Cooling and heating degree days - Cities and FUAs — Change in heating -403.83 Degree days (2025)
- Precipitation - Cities and FUAs — Extreme precipitation days 1.46 Days per year (2024)
- Dependency ratio - Cities and FUAs 18 Percentage of population aged 15-64 years (2024)
- Wind threats - Cities and FUAs — Exposure to wind threats 0 Percentage of area (2023)
- Coastal flooding - Cities and FUAs — Built-up area exposure to 2.57 Percentage of built-up area (2022)
- Internet speed - Cities and FUAs — Downloading speed 15.1 Percentage of national value (2025)
- Internet speed - Cities and FUAs — Uploading speed 49.3 Percentage of national value (2025)
Frequently asked questions
- What is precipitation - cities and fuas — change in extreme precipitation in London?
- Precipitation - cities and fuas — change in extreme precipitation in London was 0.1413 Days per year in 2024, according to Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development.
- What is the highest precipitation - cities and fuas — change in extreme precipitation recorded in London?
- The highest recorded value was 2.81 Days per year in 2021.
- What is the lowest precipitation - cities and fuas — change in extreme precipitation recorded in London?
- The lowest recorded value was -1.3 Days per year in 2005.
- How does London rank for precipitation - cities and fuas — change in extreme precipitation?
- London ranks 832nd out of 1314 groups with data for 2024.
- Is precipitation - cities and fuas — change in extreme precipitation rising or falling in London?
- Over the last ten years it is up 162.4%. The long-run trend across the full record is volatile.
- Where does this London data come from?
- The figures come from Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, published as part of Precipitation - Cities and FUAs — Change in extreme precipitation days from 1981-2010 period. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 44 observations, free to reuse under OECD Terms and Conditions (attribution required).
About this data
This dataset provides indicators of total precipitation and extreme precipitation days in Functional Urban Areas (FUAs) and cities. Data sources and methodology The indicators use ERA5-Land data. Total precipitation is the sum of all liquid and frozen water—such as rain and snow—that reaches the Earth's surface each year. It excludes fog, dew, and any precipitation that evaporates before reaching the ground. Extreme precipitation days are defined as days with more than 20 mm of total precipitation. ERA5-Land is used as it provides harmonised, globally consistent coverage at fine spatial resolution (0.1 degree), enabling the production of comparable subnational indicators also where national meteorological data are not available at the required scale. These estimates may differ from official subnational climate statistics due to differences in methodological approaches, such as the use of reanalysis based top down modelling versus in situ observations, along with variations in input data sources, spatial resolution, and the models and algorithms used to generate temperature estimates. Defining FUAs and cities The OECD, in cooperation with the EU, has developed a harmonised definition of functional urban areas (FUAs) to capture the economic and functional reach of cities based on daily commuting patterns (OECD, 2012). FUAs consist of: A city – defined by urban centres in the degree of urbanisation, adapted to the closest local administrative units to define a city. A commuting zone – including all local areas where at least 15% of employed residents work in the city. The delineation process includes: Assigning municipalities surrounded by a single FUA to that FUA. Excluding non-contiguous municipalities. The correspondence table between SAUs and FUAs/cities is available in parquet and csv format. The definition identifies 1 272 FUAs and 1 269 cities in all OECD member countries except Costa Rica and three accession countries. Cite this dataset OECD Regions, cities and local areas database (Precipitations - FUAs), http://oe.cd/geostats Further information OECD Local Data Portal OECD Regions and Cities at a Glance For questions and/or comments, please email CitiesStat@oecd.org