Home / Editor's Pick /

What is drizzle?

07:00
24 January 2022

Weather explained
What is drizzle?

drizzle-image

You may have noticed the term drizzle being used in forecasts, but do you know exactly what it is?

Both rain and drizzle are types of precipitation. The only difference is the size of the drops.

Drizzle drops, which come from low-lying clouds like stratus, are smaller and fall a lot slower. Raindrops, on the other hand, are bigger and fall at a faster speed. Generally, if a raindrop has a diameter of less than 0.5 mm then it is classed as drizzle.

Check out our Weather Explained video to learn more.

More on the topic
Temperature map showing cooler temperatures in eastern Scotland for late July in the early morning. A high of 7 °C is shown for Aberdeen. A cold thermometer is to the right of the image.
Tuesday 29 July 2025

Down to single digits

Cooler morning for eastern Scotland
Left: Weather radar showing thunderstorms over Spain; right: hail
Friday 25 July 2025

Holiday hotspot hit

Severe thunderstorms in Catalonia
Wednesday 30 July 2025

Pacific tsunami warning

Strong seaquake off Russia's east coast
All weather news
This might also interest you
Tuesday 22 July 2025

Breakfast brief

Cool, calm, lots of showers
Weather map showing light showers over Ireland and western areas of the UK. Patchy cloud cover elsewhere.
Monday 28 July 2025

Breakfast brief

Showers and clouds to start the week
Tuesday 29 July 2025

Breakfast brief

Remaining showery with sunny spells
All articles
Weather & Radar

www.weatherandradar.ie

facebooktwitteryouTubeContact uslinkList
Privacy Policy | Legal info | Accessibility statement