SOFT PLAY FINDER — PRESS RELEASE
Prepared 12 September 2026

MANCHESTER NAMED TOUGHEST OF TEN MAJOR BRITISH CITIES FOR RAINY DAYS WITH YOUNG CHILDREN

New Soft Play Finder analysis combines local rainfall, the number of children aged 0–9 and access to quality-gated soft-play venues across ten British cities.

Manchester has ranked first in the Softplayfinder Rainy Day Index 2026, a new study examining where wet weather and pressure on indoor play provision combine to make rainy days most challenging for families with young children.

The city records an average 161.7 days a year with at least 1 mm of rain. Within approximately ten miles of Manchester city centre, Soft Play Finder counted 24 published soft-play venues serving an estimated 289,099 children aged 0–9 — equivalent to 12,046 children per venue.

Bristol placed second. Glasgow provided the study's most striking contrast: it was the wettest of the ten cities, with 174.2 rainy days a year, but had the best soft-play provision at 2.88 venues per 10,000 children.

London had the greatest pressure on provision, with 20,402 children per venue and just 0.49 venues per 10,000 children. Its drier climate resulted in a mid-table composite score.

“Rainy days are when families most need clear, local choices. These results show that weather is only half the story — the number of suitable places families can actually reach matters just as much,” said Craig, founder of Soft Play Finder.

The index equally weights each city's annual rainy-day percentile and children-per-venue percentile among the ten locations. Rainfall uses the Met Office HadUK-Grid 1991–2020 climate normal; population uses Census 2021 in England and Wales and Census 2022 in Scotland. Venue counts come from Soft Play Finder's quality-gated published dataset.

The full ranking, downloadable data and methodology are available at:
https://softplayfinder.co.uk/rainy-day-index-2026/

MEDIA CONTACT
contact@softplayfinder.co.uk

NOTES TO EDITORS
- A rainy day is a day recording at least 1 mm of precipitation.
- The study compares ten selected British cities, not every UK town and city.
- Every headline result uses an approximately ten-mile straight-line city-centre radius.
- “Child Rainy Days” means annual rainy days multiplied by children aged 0–9. It is contextual and is not included in the composite score.
- Reuse of supplied graphics is permitted with attribution to Soft Play Finder and a link to the study page.