A famous UK seaside city officially gets more sun than anywhere else in England.

Although June has been rainier than we would have hoped, the Summer Solstice will take place next Thursday marking the first day of summer and there is one particular seaside city where you are guaranteed to catch the most amount of rays.

Southend-on-Sea is a popular Essex seaside city situated on the Thames Estuary is known for its world famous pier, award winning beaches, amusement parks, museums, shopping and comes first for the area with the most sunlight areas in the UK, according to energy experts at Utility Bidder.

Southend-on-Sea receives an average 2,336 sunlight hours a year. Its pier is the longest in the world stretching an impressive 1.33 miles.

At the end of the pier, you can visit the pier museum, have a spot of afternoon tea at the café, or just enjoy the beautiful views.

A former fishing hamlet, the city is popular with holidaymakers and London stations Fenchurch Street and Liverpool Street are only an hour away by train. Home to one of the country’s top free theme parks, Southend on Sea was once a final stop on the Tube network. The city is now at the end of a c2c rail route in south Essex.

In 2020, it was ranked third in Tripadvisor’s Travellers’ Choice Awards for the best English theme park, based on public votes. Although it has slipped slightly in the rankings, it still outperforms the more well-known Chessington.

One of the highlights of Adventure Island is its free entry policy. Visitors only pay for the rides they choose to go on, making it an affordable day out for large groups and families.

Coming in second is port city Kingston Upon Hull with an impressive 2,336 sunlight hours a year.

Birkenhead and Liverpool came in third and fourth both receiving an average of 2,199 sunlight hours a year. 

Two Welsh cities made the top 10 with Swansea coming in sixth with 2,170 sunlight hours a year and Newport creeped into the top 10 in ninth with 2,064 sunlight hours

Fear not Londoners as the English capital was named one of the UK’s capitals for sun with 2,109 hours of sunlight coming in eighth. Rounding up the 10 of the UK areas with the most sunlight hours was Nottingham with 2,056 annual sunlight hours.

Top 10 UK areas with the most sunlight hours:

1. Southend-on-Sea – 2,336
2. Kingston upon Hull – 2,251
3. Birkenhead – 2,199
4. Liverpool – 2,199
5. Plymouth – 2,173
6. Swansea – 2,170
7. Sunderland – 2,165
8. London – 2,109
9. Newport – 2,064
10. Nottingham – 2,056