What to Do in Formby When It Rains

It rains in July in Formby. Not always. Sometimes July is brilliant. But you can absolutely drive up the M58, park at the National Trust, and watch the sky turn grey before you have reached the beach. This happens. It happened to me last summer and it will happen again.

The answer is not to drive to a retail park. The answer is to know what Formby actually has when the weather turns, which is more than you might think.

Stay in the Pinewoods

Rain in the pinewoods is actually fine. The canopy takes most of it. The sandy paths drain quickly and stay walkable in all but the heaviest sustained downpour. If it starts raining lightly while you are in the NT pinewoods, carry on. You are probably more sheltered than you think and the forest in rain has a different quality to it that is worth experiencing at least once.

If it is genuinely heavy, the NT cafe at the car park end is the obvious move. It is warm, does a decent coffee, and the queue tends to move. It is not cheap but you are already there and it is the right call.

Lunch in the Village

A rainy lunchtime in Formby village is genuinely pleasant. The main street has a handful of good options and none of them require planning if you arrive by noon.

Left Bank Brasserie on Brows Lane is the best sit-down option. It is the kind of place that suits a slow rainy lunch: the food is good, the room is comfortable, and you can take your time without feeling like you are being rushed through for the next booking at lunchtime on a weekday. At weekends in July, booking ahead is wise even for lunch.

The Sparrowhawk on Sparrowhawk Way is slightly more casual and more likely to take a walk-in on a rainy day. Good pub food, decent beer, and the kind of atmosphere that improves in bad weather because everyone is sheltering together.

Drive to Southport

If it is properly miserable and you want a change of scene, Southport is 15 minutes by car. The Atkinson on Lord Street is an excellent rainy afternoon option: art gallery, theatre space, and a cafe on the ground floor. It is free to enter the gallery and the building itself is worth the visit. I have been in there with all four of my kids on a wet school holiday afternoon and come out with everyone still speaking to each other, which says something.

Southport Market on Market Street is another option for a rainy hour: covered, independent food stalls, relaxed atmosphere. Southport town centre generally handles a rainy day better than Formby does because there is simply more of it.

What Does Not Work in the Rain

The beach in heavy rain is not worth it. The sand dunes are slippery when wet and the views are not there. The beach walk is one of those things that is great in most conditions and bad in a proper downpour. Save it for a better day.

The red squirrel trail in heavy rain is similarly unreliable. The squirrels are not going to come out in a downpour and neither should you expect them to. Light rain is different. You can still see squirrels in light rain, particularly early morning. Heavy sustained rain is a different situation.