Daily data from five stations in the United Kingdom covering the period 1900--1993 were used to explore the relationship between diurnal temperature range (DTR) and precipitation. A strong dependency between the probability of future rainfall and the magnitude of the previous day's DTR was found. The form of this relationship seems to be independent of location and season. DTRs greater than approximately 10 ¿C are associated with reduced probabilities of rainfall. It is argued that DTR is a good proxy for cloud base height, which, in turn, is critical in determining the probability of precipitation. ¿ 2000 American Geophysical Union