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How much rain fell in Helmshore, Lancashire? 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
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
A Met Office weather warning is in force here: see the warning above.
Next 24 hours: about 2.5mm of rain forecast for the area around Helmshore, heaviest in the hour to 19:00 (2.5mm).
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).
Daily totals for UK days from the same computer model; "dry" means under 0.2mm. Forecasts further ahead are less certain.
| Gauge | Distance | Yesterday | 7 days | October | Today |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rainfall gauge nr Haslingden nr Haslingden | 0.2km | 10.2mm | 24.6mm | 132.2mm | 26.2mm |
| Rainfall gauge nr Rossendale nr Rossendale | 5.3km | 10.5mm | 24.0mm | 117.1mm | 21.0mm |
| Rainfall gauge nr Darwen nr Darwen | 8.7km | 12.2mm | 33.9mm | 148.7mm | 23.5mm |
Daily totals 24 Sep–23 Oct. Wettest day: 25.2mm.
21 days with at least 0.2mm of rain so far this October at Rainfall gauge nr Haslingden, against a full-month average of 22.0 rain days (based on 2 months of records at this gauge).
2026 so far: 936 mm (1 Jan to 23 Oct), against 1,065 mm by the same date in an average year (2000–2025) — 12% drier.
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: 2012 (1,924 mm). Driest: 2003 (1,057 mm). Average: 1,420 mm a year.
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.
Helmshore gets about 1,440 mm of rain a year on average (wettest month December, 168 mm; driest April, 83 mm). That is wetter 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), 0.9 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.
Rain gauge River gauge Storm overflow Discharging now
Nearest gauge on it: Irwell Vale, 3.5 km away: 1.25 m Rising ▲.
Every gauge on the River Irwell →A level is shown only when the gauge's latest reading is under 6 hours old. Distances are straight-line from the centre of Helmshore's monitored area.
20 storm overflows within 5 km of the centre of Helmshore's monitored area. 7 are discharging now, 11 report not discharging, and 2 have no current status.
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: © United Utilities 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.
Village in Lancashire, England
Helmshore is a village in the Rossendale Valley, Lancashire, England, south of Haslingden between the A56 and the B6235, 16 miles (26 km) north of Manchester. The population at the 2011 census was 5,805. The housing in Helmshore is mixed, with some two-up, two-down terraces, top-and-bottom houses and a few surviving back-to-back cottages. Between the 1970s and 2020 new housing estates have proliferated.
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia (CC BY-SA 4.0).
9.6mm of rain fell yesterday (23 Oct 2026), from the average of 9 rain gauges within 15km of Helmshore.
October so far: 125.3mm vs 151.8mm October average — 17% drier (the average covers the whole month; we are 24 days in). Figures are the average of 9 rain gauges within 15km.
Rainfall gauge nr Haslingden is the nearest rain gauge, 0.2km from the centre of Helmshore's monitored area. Rain gauges can be several kilometres from the town itself, so very local downpours may not register exactly.
21 days with at least 0.2mm of rain so far this October at Rainfall gauge nr Haslingden, against a full-month average of 22.0 rain days.
2012 was the wettest year in the record since 2000, with 1,924 mm from the average of 8 local rain gauges, against an average of 1,420 mm a year. The driest was 2003, with 1,057 mm.
25 Dec 2015: 74.3 mm on average across 8 local rain gauges, and up to 85.6 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 Helmshore's monitored area — local rainfall can vary over short distances.
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