By Will Noble, CNN
(CNN) — Britain is far from the wettest place on Earth, but its reputation as a gray landscape populated by perma-sodden umbrella-clutchers is so longstanding, it’s seeped into the national identity.
“It’s raining cats and dogs” was a phrase muttered by Brits as far back as the 17th century, when torrential showers dislodged animal corpses from the rudimentary drainage systems, washing them down the streets.
It was still being muttered earlier this year, when the UK endured a particularly soggy start to 2026.
When it comes to annual average precipitation however, it ranks just 83rd in the world, behind the likes of Colombia, the Maldives, Jamaica and New Zealand, but more than the United States.
However, while other countries battle extremes of downpours and drought, in Britain the rain hits different.
“The Atlantic Ocean, providing lots of moisture, has a huge influence on our weather,” explains Liz Bentley, chief executive of the Royal Meteorological Society. Britain’s also slap-bang in the path of a jet stream, a band of fast-moving winds “that develops weather systems of cloud and rain, and steers them towards our shores.”
In short, it might rain any time, any place, and perhaps it is this unpredictability — the sense of rain always lurking around the corner — that has caused it to saturate the national consciousness: from painter J.M.W. Turner’s invigoratingly kinetic “Rain, Steam, and Speed – The Great Western Railway” (worth visiting in London’s National Gallery on any given drizzly afternoon), to Travis’ pop anthem, “Why Does It Always Rain On Me?”, a song that neatly sums up the eye-rolling lot of the Brit.
Dressing for the elements
Of all the vignettes of Britain in the rain, however, perhaps it is that of the umbrella — hurriedly opened as showers break over the Wimbledon tennis championships each July, and used as an aerial conveyance by Mary Poppins — that endures.
Fox Umbrellas, based in Croydon, South London, has been crafting umbrellas since 1868, currently producing 20,000 to 25,000 a year — some of which you’ve likely seen on screen in shows such as “Outlander,” “The Crown” or “Peaky Blinders.”
“Many people view our island as somewhere that gets a lot of rain,” says Fox Umbrellas’ managing Director Paul Garrett, “and I guess we can’t argue that — so we are experts in staying dry.”
Many view the umbrella as a “quintessentially British item,” he says. In Victorian times, a gentleman wasn’t properly dressed if he wasn’t wearing a bowler hat and carrying an umbrella, he adds, although today more casual dress has taken over.
Events such as Royal Ascot, the annual week of horse racing that is a highlight of the upper-class social calendar each June, is a chance to see “well-dressed individuals, with many carrying an umbrella in case of inclement weather,” says Garrett. There is still a need for an umbrella in the modern world.”
Overseas visitors often wish to buy into this culture. “We get many tourists who value the importance of functionality and elegance of an umbrella to go with their attire,” says Garrett. “We do get visitors from other countries that specifically come to see us to order a bespoke umbrella and can spend a lot of time choosing each detail.”
Not only have the Brits woven their tenaciously wet weather into cultural emblems, these are often industries in their own right; look at Burberry, the luxury fashion house with Victorian roots, whose rain-shielding trench coatsRead more