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Rainfall in Charing

How much rain fell in Charing, Kent? Daily, weekly and monthly totals averaged over the Environment Agency rain gauges within 15km, updated every 15 minutes.

Yellow Yellow warning of rain

Heavy rain brings a high likelihood of moderate impacts from surface water flooding.

In force until 11pm Sat 24 Oct (UK time). Issued 9:05am Sat 24 Oct by the Met Office.

What to expect and what to do

What to expect

  • Spray and flooding on roads probably making journey times longer
  • Bus and train services probably affected with journey times taking longer
  • Some interruption to power supplies and other services likely
  • Flooding of a few homes and businesses is possible

What should I do?

Give yourself the best chance of avoiding delays by checking road conditions if driving, or bus and train timetables, amending your travel plans if necessary.

People cope better with power cuts when they have prepared for them in advance. It's easy to do; consider gathering torches and batteries, a mobile phone power pack and other essential items.

Check if your property could be at risk of flooding. If so, consider preparing a flood plan and an emergency flood kit.

Be prepared for weather warnings to change quickly: when a weather warning is issued, the Met Office recommends staying up to date with the weather forecast in your area.

What should I do? See the Met Office warnings and advice. Met Office Weather Warnings © Crown Copyright 2026

The average of 8 rain gauges within 15km of the centre of Charing's monitored area, all reporting in the last two days. This October they range from 75.8mm to 100.4mm. The nearest is Rainfall gauge nr Ashford (east), 0.1km away. Rain can be very local, so one street may differ from the average.
20.1mm
Yesterday (23 Oct 2026)
56.9mm
Last 7 days
90.7mm
October so far
vs 87.8mm avg — 3% wetter
10.8mm
Today so far (UTC)

Rain forecast

A Met Office weather warning is in force here: see the warning above.

Next 24 hours: about 7.0mm of rain forecast for the area around Charing, heaviest in the hour to 19:00 (1.8mm).

A computer model forecast (DWD ICON) for a square about 15 km across, updated 17:05 UK time. It is a forecast, not a measurement, and not a Met Office forecast. Weather data by Open-Meteo (CC BY 4.0).

Next 4 days

Daily totals for UK days from the same computer model; "dry" means under 0.2mm. Forecasts further ahead are less certain.

🏠 Thinking of buying in Charing? Get the Property Flood-Risk Report for any Charing postcode — official risk band, recorded floods since 1946, warning history, river behaviour and nearby storm overflows. £19 one-off, instant. Learn more →
⚠️ Yesterday's 24.2mm at Rainfall gauge nr Ashford (east) was the wettest day at this gauge since 15 Jan 2026 and in the top 0.4% of 502 rain days in this gauge's 2-year record.
⚠️ Yesterday's 23.4mm at Rainfall gauge nr Maidstone was the wettest day at this gauge since 20 Oct 2025 and in the top 0.6% of 490 rain days in this gauge's 2-year record.
⚠️ Yesterday's 20.3mm at Rainfall gauge nr Ashford (south) was the wettest day at this gauge since 8 Sep 2026 and in the top 1.6% of 426 rain days in this gauge's 2-year record.

Nearest rain gauges to Charing

GaugeDistanceYesterday7 daysOctoberToday
Rainfall gauge nr Ashford (east) nr Ashford 0.1km 24.2mm 59.6mm 98.6mm 11.1mm
Rainfall gauge nr Maidstone nr Maidstone 4.7km 23.4mm 65.7mm 100.4mm 10.4mm
Rainfall gauge nr Ashford (south) nr Ashford 8.4km 20.3mm 54.8mm 89.9mm 10.1mm

Last 30 days (average of 8 gauges within 15km)

Daily totals 24 Sep–23 Oct. Wettest day: 20.1mm.

Rain days this October

11 days with at least 0.2mm of rain so far this October at Rainfall gauge nr Ashford (east), against a full-month average of 19.0 rain days (based on 2 months of records at this gauge).

Rainfall year by year in Charing

2026 so far: 514 mm (1 Jan to 23 Oct), against 534 mm by the same date in an average year (2000–2025) — about average.

One bar per calendar year, the average of 8 local rain gauges: the Environment Agency's quality-checked daily archive, then live telemetry for the latest months. Wettest: 2000 (1,132 mm). Driest: 2005 (473 mm). Average: 724 mm a year.

Wettest days and storms in Charing

Wettest days since 2000

  1. 65.1 mm 11 Oct 2000up to 126.6 mm at one gauge
  2. 47.7 mm 11 Oct 2013up to 59.8 mm at one gauge
  3. 43.6 mm 29 Oct 2000up to 72.8 mm at one gauge
  4. 40.7 mm 7 Feb 2001up to 76.8 mm at one gauge
  5. 38.4 mm 3 Dec 2020up to 44.8 mm at one gauge

Storms that brought the most rain here

  1. 49.4 mm Storm Angus · 19–21 Nov 2016
  2. 42.8 mm Storm Babet · 18–22 Oct 2023
  3. 32.1 mm Storm Henk · 2–5 Jan 2024
  4. 27.3 mm Storm Bella · 26–27 Dec 2020
  5. 27.2 mm St Jude storm 2013 · 27–28 Oct 2013

Daily totals are the average of 8 local rain gauges, for UTC days; one gauge can catch much more than the average. A storm's figure adds up the rain measured on its dates, from our list of Met Office named storms and major floods — other weather on those days counts too.

Average rainfall in Charing

Charing gets about 740 mm of rain a year on average (wettest month October, 87 mm; driest March, 45 mm). That is drier than the UK as a whole, which averages 1,163 mm a year.

Monthly averages in mm. Source: Met Office HadUK-Grid 1991–2020 (5 km grid), 2.2 km from the town's gauge centre. Average rainfall: HadUK-Grid v1.3.2, Met Office. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. UK comparison: Met Office HadUK-Grid areal series, 1991-2020, Open Government Licence v3.0.

Gauges and storm overflows around Charing

Rain gauge River gauge Storm overflow Discharging now

Rivers near Charing

River Beult the largest river near Charing

Nearest gauge on it: Smarden, 9.3 km away: 0.73 m Steady.

Every gauge on the River Beult →

Nearest river gauges

A level is shown only when the gauge's latest reading is under 6 hours old. Distances are straight-line from the centre of Charing's monitored area.

Storm overflows near Charing

5 storm overflows within 5 km of the centre of Charing's monitored area. 1 is discharging now, 3 report not discharging, and 1 has no current status.

Discharging now, then the most spills in 2025

Sewage & storm overflows →

Event Duration Monitors show when an overflow may be spilling; they do not confirm it, and this is not advice on water quality. A live status older than two hours counts as no current status. Live status: © Southern Water storm overflow activity data, licensed under CC BY 4.0. Annual spill figures: Environment Agency Event Duration Monitoring return, © Environment Agency copyright and/or database right, Open Government Licence (OGL) v3.0.

About Charing

Charing
Photo: Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on the file page)

Village in Kent, England

Charing is a village and civil parish in the Ashford district of Kent, in south-east England. It includes the settlements of Charing Heath and Westwell Leacon. It is located at the foot of the North Downs and reaches up to the escarpment. In 2011 the parish had a population of 2,766.

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia (CC BY-SA 4.0).

Frequently asked questions

How much rain fell in Charing yesterday?

20.1mm of rain fell yesterday (23 Oct 2026), from the average of 8 rain gauges within 15km of Charing.

Is this month wetter than normal in Charing?

October so far: 90.7mm vs 87.8mm October average — 3% wetter (the average covers the whole month; we are 24 days in). Figures are the average of 8 rain gauges within 15km.

Where is the nearest rain gauge to Charing?

Rainfall gauge nr Ashford (east) is the nearest rain gauge, 0.1km from the centre of Charing's monitored area. Rain gauges can be several kilometres from the town itself, so very local downpours may not register exactly.

How many rain days has Charing had this month?

11 days with at least 0.2mm of rain so far this October at Rainfall gauge nr Ashford (east), against a full-month average of 19.0 rain days.

What was the wettest year in Charing?

2000 was the wettest year in the record since 2000, with 1,132 mm from the average of 8 local rain gauges, against an average of 724 mm a year. The driest was 2005, with 473 mm.

What is the wettest day on record in Charing?

11 Oct 2000: 65.1 mm on average across 8 local rain gauges, and up to 126.6 mm at one of them. Records since 1 Jan 2000.

Rainfall data: Environment Agency rain gauges, synced every 15 minutes. Daily totals are computed overnight (UTC days); "today so far" is live. Gauge distances are straight-line from the centre of Charing's monitored area — local rainfall can vary over short distances.