Rainfall Check
Check rainfall for any location on Earth — what is falling right now, how heavy it is, and what is heading your way. Free, instant, no account needed.
How to Check Rainfall in Your Area
Press Use My Location above and the map centres on you. Or drag and zoom to any place in the world. The coloured areas are active precipitation detected in the last few minutes, and the animation shows which way it is moving.
Three things are worth checking, in this order:
- Is anything over me now? Zoom in until you can see individual streets. If your position is clear of colour, it is not raining on you.
- What is upwind? Zoom out to a few hundred kilometres. Rain arrives from somewhere, and in the mid-latitudes it usually tracks broadly west to east.
- How fast is it moving? Play the loop. A band closing 30 km in ten minutes of animation is moving quickly; one that has barely shifted may sit over you for hours.
What Kind of Rainfall Check Do You Need?
“Rainfall check” means different things depending on the job, and they need different tools.
Is it raining right now?
Live radar answers this directly — it is the map above. This is the only method that reflects the last few minutes rather than a model prediction. See our dedicated page on where it is raining right now.
Will it rain in the next hour?
Radar again, but read the movement rather than the snapshot. Within roughly 90 minutes, extrapolating a radar loop generally beats a forecast, because you are watching real precipitation rather than a model’s guess about it.
Will it rain later this week?
Radar cannot help — rain that will fall on Thursday does not exist yet. Use the 7-day forecast, which blends several national weather models rather than relying on one.
How much rain has already fallen?
This is accumulated rainfall, and it is a genuinely different measurement. Radar estimates intensity at a moment in time; totals require summing over hours and calibrating against ground gauges. For official accumulation figures — the kind used for agriculture, insurance or flood records — your national meteorological service is the authoritative source, not any radar viewer including this one.
Reading Rainfall Intensity
Radar colour corresponds to how hard it is raining at that moment. As a rough guide:
- Light blue / green — drizzle to light rain, under about 2.5 mm per hour.
- Yellow — moderate rain, roughly 2.5–10 mm per hour. Noticeably wet.
- Orange / red — heavy rain, above 10 mm per hour. Surface water, poor visibility.
- Purple / magenta — torrential rain or hail. This intensity is where flash flooding becomes a real risk if it persists.
Intensity and total are not the same thing. Ten minutes of purple may deliver less water than six hours of steady green. Our guide to rain radar colours covers the full scale.
When a Rainfall Check Actually Matters
Some situations reward checking properly rather than glancing outside.
- Gardening and allotments. Knowing whether the 4 mm forecast actually arrived decides whether you water. Radar tells you if the band passed north of you, which happens constantly.
- Cycling and running. The useful question is not “will it rain today” but “can I get an hour in before that band arrives”. Only radar answers that.
- Building and trades. Pouring concrete, laying tarmac, painting or roofing all have rain windows. A radar loop gives a far better read on the next two hours than a daily summary.
- Events and weddings. Check the corridor upwind, not just the venue.
- Driving. Heavy rain on one stretch of motorway is common while both ends stay dry. Check the whole route.
- Farming. Spray windows depend on rain-free hours after application. Radar plus forecast beats either alone.
Why Your Rainfall Check Might Look Wrong
If the map shows rain and your ground is dry, the radar is usually still correct. Three things cause the mismatch.
Evaporation before landing. Called virga. Radar sees drops in the air; in dry conditions they never reach the surface. Common in summer and in arid regions.
Beam height. The Earth curves and the radar beam does not. At long range the beam scans thousands of metres up, missing low drizzle entirely. This is why coastal and mountainous areas show gaps.
Pixel size. A radar cell can cover a square kilometre. A summer shower may be smaller. One street floods while the next stays dry, and the map averages both.
More detail in how accurate is rain radar and how rain radar works.
Checking Rainfall Anywhere in the World
Coverage is global, but the method behind it changes by region. Europe, North America, Japan, Australia and much of Asia have dense national radar networks giving genuine minute-by-minute detail. Across large parts of Africa, South America and the open oceans there is little or no ground radar, so precipitation is estimated from satellite instead — still useful, but coarser and slightly delayed.
If you are checking rainfall for travel, our destination weather guides cover wet and dry seasons for 19 destinations, and the radar directory lists live coverage by city.
An Important Limit
RainyMap is an information tool, not a warning service. It does not issue flood or severe weather alerts and should never be your only source when safety is involved. For warnings, follow your national meteorological service and local emergency authorities — their guidance takes precedence over anything shown here. See our terms and weather disclaimer.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do I check rainfall in my area?
Open the live map above and press Use My Location, or zoom to your area manually. Coloured areas show precipitation detected in the last few minutes, with the colour indicating intensity and the animation showing which direction it is moving.
Is the rainfall check free?
Yes. RainyMap is completely free, needs no account or app download, and works in any browser on phone or desktop.
How accurate is a radar rainfall check?
For whether rain is falling now and where it is heading in the next 30 to 90 minutes, radar is very reliable. For exact accumulated totals it is an estimate, because radar measures reflectivity in the air rather than water collected on the ground. Official totals come from calibrated rain gauges.
Can I check how much rain has already fallen?
Live radar shows current intensity rather than accumulation. For verified rainfall totals over a period, consult your national meteorological service, which calibrates radar against ground gauge networks.
How often does the rainfall data update?
Every few minutes. Most national radar networks complete a full scan cycle every 5 to 10 minutes, and the map refreshes as new scans arrive.
Does a rainfall check work worldwide?
Yes. Ground radar covers Europe, North America, Japan, Australia and much of Asia in high detail. Elsewhere, including oceans and parts of Africa and South America, precipitation is estimated from satellite data, which is coarser but still gives a reliable picture.
Why does it say rain when it is dry outside?
Most often the rain is evaporating before reaching the ground, the radar beam is scanning above your local weather at long range, or the shower is smaller than a single radar pixel. The radar is detecting real precipitation even when none lands on you.
Can I check rainfall for a future date?
Not with radar, which only shows precipitation that already exists. For coming days use the 7-day forecast, which blends multiple national weather models.