UK & Ireland Rainfall Radar - Past 2 Hours (15-min updates)

About this rainfall radar data

This rainfall radar shows precipitation across the UK and Ireland over the past two hours in 15 minute steps. It is produced from the UK Composite Rainfall Radar dataset, jointly operated by the Met Office, Met Éireann, and Jersey Met, and distributed through the Met Office UK Radar Open Data service on the AWS Open Data Registry. New frames normally appear about 15 minutes after each scan.

Radar detects precipitation by sending out pulses of energy and measuring how much is reflected back by raindrops, hail, or snow. Brighter colours indicate heavier rainfall. Areas with no shading are usually dry, although very light drizzle or shallow cloud layers can sometimes go undetected.

Local considerations

Radar coverage over South Devon is generally excellent, although hills on Dartmoor and the South Hams can create small shadows or reduced returns when the radar beam is partially blocked. Offshore, sea clutter may appear during particular atmospheric conditions. As the radar beam rises with distance, very shallow showers or low cloud layers can sometimes sit beneath it and may not be detected, while intense rainfall can occasionally produce small bright artefacts.

Update frequency

New radar frames for this two hour sequence normally appear shortly after 00, 15, 30, and 45 minutes past each hour. The display selects one frame every 15 minutes to provide a clear two hour timeline.