There is a particular kind of psychological damage that comes from growing up in Britain and learning, slowly and painfully, that summer is a myth. A rumour. A loose social agreement that gets cancelled around the 9th of July every year without apology. I’ve lived it. You’ve lived it. And increasingly, I’ve started noticing that certain video games have also lived it, which is either a sign of extraordinary environmental simulation or a sign that the developers spent a working holiday in Skegness and never fully recovered.
British weather in video games is, weirdly, becoming more accurate than the Met Office forecast. So I ranked them. Obviously.
Red Dead Redemption 2, the Scottish Highlands in disguise
Rockstar’s masterpiece of misery simulation is, at its heart, a game about sitting on a horse in horizontal rain wondering what you did wrong. The weather in RDR2 is relentless, unpredictable, and deeply personal. You’ll have one glorious hour of golden light in the Heartlands, genuinely think things are looking up, and then a thunderstorm will roll in from nowhere and drench you for the next three in-game days. Arthur Morgan catches a cold. You feel it in your soul.
The region it most resembles: the Cairngorms in October. That specific combination of breathtaking scenery and the constant nagging suspicion that you should have brought a proper waterproof. Rockstar didn’t set out to simulate a Scottish bank holiday weekend, but here we are.
The Witcher 3, Northumberland with added bog monsters
Velen, the central region of The Witcher 3, is a swamp. A permanent, grey, drizzling, soul-crushing swamp that somehow keeps producing more mud no matter how long you’ve been there. The sky is the colour of a wet sock. The rain is horizontal and fine, the kind that soaks you before you’ve registered it’s started. Geralt spends most of his time looking mildly damp and deeply unamused, which is the correct facial expression for anyone attempting an outdoor activity in Northumberland between September and April.
The game’s dynamic weather does something particularly British: it lets the sun come out just long enough for you to think the worst is over, and then absolutely buckles down again. I’ve experienced this exact sequence at a music festival in Yorkshire. Multiple times. Voluntarily.
Ghost of Tsushima, Cornwall in August, unpredictably
Ghost of Tsushima gets a slightly different kind of British weather credit. Its weather system swings between cinematically gorgeous golden sunshine and sudden, violent storms in a way that closely mirrors a Cornish August. For about forty minutes you’re lying in a flower field thinking this is the best holiday you’ve ever had. Then the wind picks up, something flies off the roof of a farmhouse, and a weather warning pops up on your phone.
The game’s storms are dramatic and short-lived. The calm returns quickly. Hope is reborn. Then it rains again. Classic Cornwall. I love Cornwall. I also own seven waterproof jackets, which is perhaps related.
Forza Horizon 4, actually set in Britain, and still somehow less wet than the real thing
Forza Horizon 4 is, of course, explicitly set in a fictionalised Britain, cycling through four distinct seasons in a way that is simultaneously the most and least realistic portrayal of British weather in gaming history. The autumn looks gorgeous. The winter has actual snow, which arrives reliably, which is already pure fantasy for anyone south of Edinburgh. The summer is sunny and warm for an extended period. Weeks, even.
This is where realism breaks down. In reality, the Horizon festival would take place during a fortnight where the temperature barely clears 16°C, the music stage gets struck by lightning, and someone’s tent is found in the next county. Playground Games had the courage to simulate Britain but not, apparently, to simulate Britain. I respect the creative decision. I also know it’s a lie.
That said, the game does nail the specific British experience of watching brilliant sunshine arrive and immediately wondering when it’ll end. Every sunny day in FH4 feels slightly borrowed. You drive fast because you know it won’t last. That part is very accurate.
Cyberpunk 2077, Manchester in a neon dystopia
Night City rains constantly. Not dramatically, not cinematically (well, sometimes cinematically), but persistently. There’s always a low grey sky or a slick wet street or the sound of rain hammering corrugated metal somewhere above V’s head. The city never fully dries out. You can go hours without seeing actual sun. The neon reflects off puddles in that specific way that makes everywhere look both beautiful and deeply depressing simultaneously.
This is Manchester. This is absolutely Manchester. Specifically the Northern Quarter in November, around 5pm, when it’s already dark and raining and you’re trying to decide if the pub is worth the sprint. The answer, in Manchester as in Night City, is always yes.
The Met Office’s own data on UK rainfall patterns would make a great tutorial screen for any of these games, honestly. Hours of rain, typical onset time, probability of a brief sunny window just to mess with you.
Assassin’s Creed Valhalla, Norfolk, but with better longships
Ubisoft’s Viking epic actually spent considerable effort recreating Dark Ages Britain, and the weather reflects it. Mercia and East Anglia in Valhalla have a particular flat, grey, windswept quality that I find deeply familiar. The skies are huge and threatening. The light, when it comes, is that specific pale English gold that makes everything look slightly melancholy even on a nice day.
Norfolk in January. That’s what it is. Big sky, cold wind off the sea, the occasional dramatic cloud formation that would make a great desktop wallpaper if you weren’t standing under it. Eivor strides through it looking purposeful. Real Norfolk residents stride through it looking purposeful too, because the alternative is standing still in horizontal rain, and nobody wants that.
Which game actually wins for British weather accuracy?
If I’m being honest, Red Dead Redemption 2 takes it. The combination of false hope, sudden deterioration, and the way poor weather actively affects your character’s wellbeing captures something true about the British experience of existing outdoors. It’s the only game I’ve played where the weather made me genuinely reconsider my plans, which is something British weather does to me roughly every other weekend from October through June.
The broader point is that dynamic weather in open world games has quietly become one of the most interesting design spaces in the industry. Done well, it changes how you play, where you go, and even how you feel. Done poorly, it’s just decorative rain that doesn’t actually touch you. Britain has taught me the difference, and I’m grateful for it, even if I remain damp.
Fans of games with suspiciously British atmospheric conditions might also enjoy our look at open world games with the most suspiciously British town planning decisions, or our deep dive into the worst video game maps for navigation if you only had a tatty AA Road Atlas. Both are extremely relevant to the experience of being British and confused outdoors.
One last thing. If you’re watching any of these games on a telly that cuts out every time a cloud rolls in, you might want to have a word with whoever installed your TV Aerials setup. Weather affects more than just open world immersion, it turns out.
Frequently Asked Questions
Which open world game has the most realistic weather system?
Red Dead Redemption 2 is widely regarded as having one of the most detailed dynamic weather systems in gaming, with storms, fog, snow, and temperature changes that genuinely affect gameplay and character wellbeing. For sheer persistence of miserable drizzle, it’s hard to beat.
Do video game weather systems actually affect gameplay or are they just visual?
In the better ones, weather genuinely changes things. In RDR2, rain affects NPC behaviour and Arthur’s health. In The Witcher 3, certain enemies are stronger in specific weather. Forza Horizon 4 built its entire seasonal structure around weather-driven gameplay changes.
Is Forza Horizon 4 actually set in the UK?
Yes, Forza Horizon 4 is set in a fictionalised Britain, featuring locations inspired by the Scottish Highlands, the Lake District, and the Cotswolds. The seasonal weather cycle is based on British seasons, though it takes considerable creative licence with how pleasant those seasons actually are.
What makes British weather so hard to simulate accurately in games?
British weather is notoriously unpredictable and hyperlocal, meaning two places twenty miles apart can experience completely different conditions simultaneously. Most game weather engines work on region-wide systems, so they can capture the general misery but not the specific injustice of sunshine ending at 3pm on a Sunday.