Home / Editor's Pick /

Where does rain come from?

11:00
13 February 2022

Weather explained
Where does rain come from?

There's no shortage of rain across the UK and Ireland this weekend with more downpours all day today, but do you know where the rain comes from?

To put it simply, rain comes from clouds. When air parcels rise to a certain level they condense into water droplets and form clouds.

Inside the clouds the water droplets will collide with others creating bigger water droplets. As the droplets get bigger, they get heavier and when they become too heavy they begin to fall to the ground as rain.

Watch our weather explained video below to learn more:

Ryan Hathaway
More on the topic
pinecones
Thursday, 11 December 2025

Winter helpers

How pine cones aid the weather forecast
Map comparison showing 44 degrees in Indulkana and minus 51 degrees in Olenyok. Coloured temperature ranges show stark global contrasts.
Tuesday, 9 December 2025

Global extremes

Almost 100 degrees difference in temperature
Shooting stars, part of the Geminid meteor shower.
Saturday, 13 December 2025

Spot a shooting star

King of meteor showers at its peak
All weather news
This might also interest you
Monday, 25 August 2025

Bank holiday outlook

Warm day turning gusty in places
Wednesday, 27 August 2025

Breakfast brief

Frontal system brings heavy rain
Split weather map showing UK wind speeds in orange-red shades up to 40 mph on the left and warning levels in green-yellow on the right, with a central wind warning sign.
Wednesday, 22 October 2025

Warnings active

Storm Benjamin impacts the UK
All articles
Weather & Radar

Weather & Radar is also available on

Google Play StoreApp Store

Company

Contact us Privacy Policy Legal info Accessibility statement

Services

Uploader

Socials

facebooktwittertikToklinkList