Got More Vits or Need More Vits? Where in the country needs a sunny holiday…

It’s fair to say that Britain isn’t exactly blessed with sunshine. Come the early part of the year our stores of Vitamin D are depleted from those cold and wet winter months.  And with one in six adults not getting the required level of Vitamin D according to government statistics, nowhere could use a  sunny holiday more than the UK.

But which place in the UK needs a sunny holiday the most?

Using historic Met Office data, we analysed 30 years of British weather we broke down which towns and regions are getting the most sunlight hours, rainfall, days of rain and the best maximum temperature to figure out which is most in need of a week in the sun.

Why It’s Important To Get Enough Vitamin D

According to government statistics, it’s a very serious problem, with one in six adults not getting the required levels of vitamin D, as well as 20% of children. It’s recommended that people get between 10mcg and 20mcg per day depending on their age, but a variety of factors can be influential on how much we do receive.

Becky Graham, our resident nutritionist at Get More Vits, said, “every one of us needs vitamin D but vegans and vegetarians, pregnant and breastfeeding women, breast fed infants and young children, older people, people with dark skin or who cover their skin, those with obesity, and people with low levels of magnesium are at all an increased risk of low vitamin D”.

Where you live in the UK can have a big influence on vitamin D levels. After all, some of us suffer with those wet and miserable days more than others…

The Places That Are In Most Need Of A Sunny Holiday

As you’d probably expect, it makes rather disappointing reading for the North. The results found that the top 10 places in the country that are in most need of upping their vitamin D levels are in that region.

Coming in at number one is Manchester, proving that its reputation for always raining isn’t entirely unjustified with it being in the top 10 for both the amount of rainfall and rainy days.

Hot on its heels is Glasgow, which ranked inside the top 10 for the amount of rain and how frequently it falls, as well as being one of the top cities for the amount of sunlight it gets.

Wales was surprisingly underrepresented inside the top results with only two inside the top 20, showing that the Green, Green, Grass of Home needs as much sunlight as it does rain to grow. Whilst Northern Ireland punches well above its weight with three towns all sitting inside the top 10.

At the other end of the spectrum, the South is dominant with eight of the 10 places in least need of a sunny holiday and receiving the most vitamin D.

Essex is home to the town least in need of a sunny holiday with Southend-on-Sea taking the top spot. Which just shows that the cast of TOWIE might not have needed to spend as much time on the sunbed as they thought they did.

The South East in general, are more likely to get more Vitamin D with eight out of the top 10 results coming from that region.

The furthest north within the top 10 are Worcester and Birmingham, which are fifth and eighth respectively.

Sunlight Hours: The South Coast Bathing in Sun

Southend-on-Sea drops down the list slightly on sunshine hours alone, with folks of Folkestone being basked in sunshine most frequently. Across the year, the Folkestone Ski Centre weather station records around 1,933 hours of sunshine, that’s over 42% of sunny daylight hours, 15% more than Inverness, the city that receives the least amount of sunlight across the year.

Folkestone is joined by Bognor Regis and Hastings as the top three sunniest places overall, all enjoying well over 1,900 hours per year, with Weymouth also just sneaking into that bracket with a total of 1,904 sunlight hours per year.

Below you’ll find the sunniest and least sunny locations in the UK based on the percentage of time they are bathed in sunlight…

Interestingly, during the months of December, January and February, Folkestone and other parts of the South Coast welcome over double the amount of sunlight hours compared to parts of the north.

For example, in January, Greater Manchester averages around 32 hours of sunlight, while in Folkestone, Bognor Regis and Hastings, hours of sunlight are above 70.

During the winter months, the area of North West receives the least sunlight, a total of 125 hours across the three months. That works out at just over an hour or day, or a total of 15 days of sun out of the 90 in the period, based upon the average number of daylight hours during those months.

In contrast, Folkestone receives just under double the amount of sunlight hours at 236 over the same period, correlating to a total of 28 days of sunlight.

The Towns and Cities That Receive Most and Least Amount Of Sunlight During Winter Months

The Sunniest Winter Locations

Rank	Location	Hours of Sunlight
1	Folkestone	236
2	Bognor Regis	232
3	Weymouth	229
4	Hastings	227
5	Eastbourne	222
6	Southend-on-Sea	216
7	Swanage	216
8	Ipswich	214
9	Peterborough	214
10	Bournemouth	212

The Least Sunny Winter Locations

Rank	Location	Hours of Sunlight
1	Greater Manchester	125
2	Glasgow	140
3	Belfast	141
4	Inverness	142
5	Conwy	143
6	Blackpool	147
7	Prestwick	148
8	Perth	149
9	Stafford	155
10	Lisburn	155

Becky added, “No matter where you live, if you’re in the UK, due to our location in the Northern hemisphere, we simply do not have access to the sunlight we need to ensure levels remain topped up year-round, and because it’s impossible to get enough through our diet, (unless you want to eat 10 eggs per day), then supplementing is a sensible idea for all of us”.

Rainfall: Wet, Wet Wales and Manchester Monsoons

Both the volume of rain and number of days that see rain were factored into the study. And while the water itself doesn’t affect our vitamin D levels, the cloud cover that comes with it does, as well as us being more likely to stay indoors and more likely to wrap up and cover our skin when we do go outdoors. This, in turn, limits the amount of sunlight our skin absorbs and vitamin D we are able to produce.

In the case of both measurements, the west of the country receives the most amount of rain on the more frequent occasions, as the westerly winds swoop across from the Atlantic.

The Welsh town of Tredegar, around 30 miles north of Cardiff, comfortably sees the most rainfall of anywhere in the UK, collecting over 1,700 millimetres per year, more than three times as much as towns on the East Coast.

Carmarthen has the second highest amount of rainfall when it comes to volume, with 1,346 millimetres, while the Lancashire town of Blackburn completes the top three rainiest places.

In total, five Welsh locations make up the top 10 wettest locations, with Lancashire and Greater Manchester towns and cities taking four slots. Glasgow is the only other place outside of those in the top 10.

The Northern Irish town of Ballykelly, a stone’s throw from Londonderry, is almost level with Blackburn on the number of rain days it sees, with a total of 175, equating to 48% of days during the year getting a splash of the stuff.

The west coast again was well represented, with a split of towns across Wales, the North West of England and Scotland.

Not everywhere in the country needs a pair of wellies and waders though, with the South East of England staying much drier.

Across the year, Southend-on-Sea receives only 527 millimetres of rain, that’s a smaller volume than Tredegar receives in the winter months alone. The seven driest spots in the UK all see less than 600 millimetres of rainfall annually, with Cambridge and Ipswich joining Southend in the top three.

A number of northern towns and cities also receive much less rain than their western counterparts, with Sheffield the driest of those. The South Yorkshire city sees approximately 582 millimetres of rain yearly. Stockton-on-Tees, Cleethorpes and Newcastle-upon-Tyne are also considerably drier than the rest of the country.

That’s a similar story with the locations that see the fewest days of rain. Southend-on-Sea once again tops that chart, with just over 100 days of rain. That equates to almost three-quarters of the year being dry.

Cambridge and Chelmsford complete the top three driest places in the country, where even during the winter months it stays dry for two thirds of the month on average. Sheffield is the only town in the north of the UK to feature in the top 10.

Maximum Temperature: Year Round Strawberries & Cream In The Wimbledon Tropics…

Similarly to rainfall, while temperature doesn’t have a direct impact on how much vitamin D we absorb, the knock-on effects are there. After all, the colder it is, the more layers we will wear no matter how much the sun is shining.

On the other hand, we are more likely to flash more bare skin when the temperature is warm, giving the body a higher vitamin D intake. London temperatures dominated, with Wimbledon not just the hottest spot in town during July when Centre Court takes centre stage but all-year round.

Only Southampton and Bournemouth featured in the top 10 as coastal locations, with the former in the top three, just below Slough.

The coldest areas are unsurprisingly dominated by Scottish towns and cities, with six of the top 10 overall being from the country. Livingston, nestled between Glasgow and Edinburgh, is the town that consistently sees the lowest maximum temperatures, while it also records the lowest maximum temperature of any town during any month, with January maxing out at just 6.18 degrees celsius, over three degrees colder than Torquay, which has the highest maximum temperature at the turn of a year.

Want To Get Your Dose Of Vit D? The Best Spring & Summer Spots In The UK

For those looking to boost their vitamin D levels over the spring and summer months, there are plenty of UK destinations you can do so.

Temperature wise, the highest maximum you’ll find anywhere is Slough in July, with the town, famed for The Office, reaching a balmy 23.89 degrees celsius maximum on average. However, if the business parks of the Berkshire town aren’t for you, our weighted ranking system favours the South East coast, where you’ll get a combination of warm temperatures, dry days and plenty of sunshine.

Southend-on-Sea is the number one spot for both spring and summer, with second and third varying slightly, as Ipswich and Bognor Regis take up the top spots for the earlier months and Margate and Maidstone make for a vitamin D boosting getaway in the summer.

Those most in need of such a getaway following the winter months are those in Greater Manchester and other northern parts of the UK, with Uttoxeter, in Staffordshire, the most southerly town to feature within the top 10.

The importance of vitamin D cannot be underestimated, every single cell in our body has receptors for Vitamin D, making it vital for overall health:

• it helps us to absorb calcium, supporting bone and muscle health
• strengthens the immune system, encouraging the production of anti-viral and anti-bacterial cells
• supports weight management, helping to regulate insulin and blood sugar levels.
• not getting enough vitamin D can negatively impact the brain and nervous system and is linked to low mood, energy and fatigue.

Boost your vitamin D levels with Get More Vits’ Vitamin D range. They’re perfect for increasing your intake, improving your immune system and supporting health bones, teeth, and muscles.

Enjoy our vitamin D or multivitamin drinks packages today and get the boost you need today, no matter what the weather!

Methodology

Using historic Met Office data, we analysed 30 years of British weather to determine where in the country people are in most need of increasing their vitamin D levels. We created a weighted rank based upon conditions that included hours of sunlight, days of rainfall, millimetres of rain and maximum temperature as recorded by the Met Office. A heavier weighting was given to the former two, with those more influential on the resulting vitamin D we receive.

 

Author Becky Graham Lead Nutritionist & Communications - Get More Vits