United Kingdom · typical climate
Where to find sun from Manchester
Manchester is the wet side of Britain. The Pennines and the Lake District, the obvious drives, are cloudier than the city, not clearer.
What you can reach
About 2 hours by car: Birmingham (about 1 h 30), Sheffield (about 45 min), Leeds (about 49 min), Liverpool (about 43 min).
Further, still inside 5 hours: London (about 3 h 45), Glasgow (about 4 h 15), Bristol (about 3 h 15), Belfast (about 3 h 45), Swansea (about 3 h 30).
Inside a 4-hour door-to-door flight, and too far for that drive: Nantes, Brest, Le Havre, Plymouth. A four-hour flight is the first time the map leaves Britain. Five hours by car never does, and the hills nearby are wetter than the city.
Car times are the straight-line estimate SunFinder starts from (~70 km/h), before a routed drive. A mountain road or a ferry takes longer. The flight circle is the same 4-hour limit the tool uses.
When to stay
There is no nearby rain shadow that turns a wet weekend around. The peaks are for when you want the landscape anyway. Sun you can count on is a flight, including in summer.
Typical daytime high
Rounded long-term average for Manchester. Not this week’s forecast.
This weekend, by car
A live SunFinder check from Manchester, within about 5 hours. This is the forecast. The climate above does not change with it.
Checking this weekend from Manchester…
Open this search in SunFinder