Irish Weather through the Year

Posted in: Climate & Weather

Rain coming, by mozzercork

Rain coming, by mozzercork

It’s often said that in Ireland you get four seasons in one day, and there is some truth in this!

The weather is never very predictable, no matter what the season or how bright the morning dawns.

It’s not all bad weather though.

Summer

During the summer months, while rainfall is frequent it is generally light or short-lived. In July and August there can be surprisingly warm weather, with average temperatures of around 15ºC -18ºC, occasionally as high as 30ºC.

It can become humid as the temperature rises – sudden and heavy (though usually short) thunder storms are common. On the up side, these storms are followed by spectacular rainbows which almost make up for them.

Winter

Average temperatures in Ireland in January and February (usually the coldest months) are about 5ºC, though they can drop quite a bit lower at night. Clouds and rain are pretty much a daily occurrence, with occasional bright sunny days. However most days, even if it is dull, rain tends to come in showers interspersed with dry periods.

Heavy snow falls are rare. January 2010, when heavy snow and ice almost brought the country to a standstill, was exceptional.  Most years the tops of mountains may be covered with snow for much of the winter but you are unlikely to encounter snowy roads. Ice is a different matter, and early in the morning, particularly on less busy roads, it is advisable to be on the look out for black ice.

Spring & Autumn

Spring and Autumn are even less predictable – you could find yourself soaking up the sun in April but equally you could really need that warm and waterproof  jacket you packed – you did pack it didn’t you?

So essentially in Ireland the weather could do anything – be prepared for that!

Ireland Weather Averages

These figures are all average weather values for Ireland over an approximately 30 year period.

Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec
Temperature oC
Average 5 5 6 8 10 13 15 15 13 10 6 5
High 14 15 18 23 26 31 31 30 25 22 17 14
Low -14 -11 -7 -5 -3 0 2 1 -1 -4 -7 -10
Temperature oF
Average 41 41 43 46 50 55 59 59 55 50 43 41
High 57 59 64 73 78 88 88 86 77 71 62 57
Low 7 12 19 23 27 32 36 34 30 25 19 14
Note that highs and lows of temperatures above are real extremes, not commonly experienced. The lows will have occurred at night.
Average hours of sunshine daily
1.7 2.2 3.3 4.8 5.4 5.1 4.6 4.5 3.8 2.7 2.2 1.5
Average number of days when it rains
Any 19 15 17 15 17 14 13 15 15 18 17 18
Heavy 7 5 5 4 5 4 3 4 5 6 5 6
This means in January there is an average of 19 days when it rains, on about 7 of which the rain is heavy. Heavy means more than about 2″ of rain. Yep, lots of rain!
Average number of days with…..
Snow 5 5 3 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 .5 3
Hail 1 1 3 2 1 .5 0 0 0 .3 .4 .3
Thunder 0 0 0 .5 1 1 1 1 .5 .2 0 0
Fog 5 3 2 2 2 2 3 5 6 6 4 5

Figures here have been rounded to the nearest whole number – more detailed and accurate information about Ireland’s weather and climate is available from Met Éireann (The Irish Meteorological Service)

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  • On 12 May 2009 at 4:22 pm Jordyn said:

    thanks people i am doing a project and i really needed the climate change  info ;) thank you:)
     
     
        -Jordyn

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