Bowcast

Rainbow forecast for Manchester

Manchester, England, United Kingdom: live rainbow odds for today, the best hour to look up, and the week ahead.

Rainbow weather in Manchester

Manchester lives under the North Atlantic conveyor: fast-moving showers with bright spells between them, at a latitude where the sun stays low for much of the day. Low sun means tall bows, and "sunshine and showers" is practically the regional forecast. Spring and autumn, when shower trains are busiest, are the best seasons.

Wherever you are, the rules are the same: a rainbow forms opposite the sun, only while the sun is less than 42 degrees above the horizon, and most often in the minutes after a shower moves through. The gauge above runs those rules against live ensemble forecasts for the 12 km around Manchester.

Rainbow questions, answered

When do rainbows appear in Manchester?

Rainbows need sunlit rain with the sun lower than 42 degrees, so in Manchester the best windows are the hours after sunrise and before sunset on showery days. Around nine in ten rainbows appear in the hour right after rain stops.

Where should I look for a rainbow in Manchester?

Always directly opposite the sun: put the sun at your back and look toward the retreating rain. In the evening that means looking east; in the morning, west.

What is the rainbow chance in Manchester today?

Bowcast computes it live from ensemble weather models: about 40 forecast runs are checked for sunlit-rain conditions around Manchester, hour by hour, for the next 7 days. The live figure is on this page and on the map.

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