Few Irish towns have warmer summer afternoons than Shandon
The coldest hours of a January night bottom out at 3.6°C on average. In January, nights here are milder than in 94% of Irish towns. May has warmed most since 1981–2010, part of a 0.2°C rise. Homes need heating from November to April, the months averaging under 10°C.
Met Éireann 1991–2020 averages for the town’s own square kilometre.
A year in Shandon at a glance
Each month’s typical high and low, in °C.
What stands out about Shandon’s climate
Compared with Irish towns, with its place among towns and neighbourhoods of 2,500+ in County Cork beside it.
What a year in Shandon feels like
Typical highs and lows by season and by month, from Met Éireann’s 1991–2020 averages.
About 14 air frosts a year
Ground frosts, when the grass drops below 0°C, come on about 66 nights a year. Air frosts come mostly from December to March, most of all in January (about 3).
Air frosts by month
Average nights below 0°C
Ground frosts by month
Average nights with the grass below 0°C
Counted from Cork Airport’s daily readings, 1991–2020, 6.3 km south of Shandon: Met Éireann publishes these for its stations only.
About 1,084 mm of rain a year
December is the wettest month and May the driest. 47th wettest of 54 towns and neighbourhoods of 2,500+ in County Cork. The wettest month brings about 1.7 times the rain of the driest. Cork Airport records 1 mm or more on about 161 days a year, and 10 mm on about 39.
Rain by month
Millimetres
Sunshine by month
Hours, at Cork Airport
Heating a home in Shandon
84% of a year’s heating need falls between October and April. Months averaging under 10°C: November to April.
Degree days add up how far each day’s mean temperature falls below 15.5°C over a year.
Living with Shandon’s climate
What the averages mean for a garden, a free afternoon and a bad-weather day.
In half of years the last air frost at Cork Airport comes by 27 March and the first by 1 December: about 249 frost-free days in between.
Highs of 17–27°C with lows of 8°C or more: Jun, Jul, Aug and Sep.
Parks & trails →Averages smooth over storms, floods and heatwaves; Shandon’s hazards page covers the risks.
Flood & hazards →Met Éireann’s nearest station: Cork Airport
Cork Airport is 6.3 km south of Shandon, the nearest of the 25 synoptic stations where Met Éireann records the weather around the clock. The station stands 155 m above sea level; Shandon’s centre, 29 m.
| Month | High | Low | Rain | Air frosts | Sun (hours) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 8.3°C | 3.3°C | 131 mm | 3.4 | 61 |
| February | 8.6°C | 3.1°C | 99 mm | 3.4 | 74 |
| March | 9.9°C | 3.7°C | 91 mm | 2.3 | 111 |
| April | 12.0°C | 5.1°C | 87 mm | 0.9 | 160 |
| May | 14.6°C | 7.4°C | 80 mm | 0.0 | 191 |
| June | 17.1°C | 9.9°C | 83 mm | 0.0 | 184 |
| July | 18.6°C | 11.6°C | 86 mm | 0.0 | 164 |
| August | 18.5°C | 11.5°C | 96 mm | 0.0 | 158 |
| September | 16.6°C | 10.0°C | 91 mm | 0.0 | 129 |
| October | 13.4°C | 7.7°C | 132 mm | 0.2 | 99 |
| November | 10.4°C | 5.2°C | 127 mm | 0.9 | 75 |
| December | 8.7°C | 3.8°C | 136 mm | 2.8 | 55 |
| Year | 13.1°C | 6.9°C | 1,240 mm | 14 | 1,461 |
The table is Cork Airport’s own record, averaged over 1991–2020 from its daily readings (ours, not a Met Éireann table). The temperatures and rain elsewhere on this page are Met Éireann’s 1 km grid at Shandon itself; the frosts, sunshine and degree days are this station’s.
How Shandon compares
Against the 321 Irish towns and city neighbourhoods of 2,500 or more, each read from Met Éireann’s grid at its own centre, and its place among towns and neighbourhoods of 2,500+ in County Cork.
Warmer than it used to be
Shandon’s 1991–2020 average is 0.2°C warmer than 1981–2010’s. The biggest change is in February (+0.3°C).
A year’s rain is 1,084 mm, up 3% from 1,056 mm.
Change by month
The two periods share 1991–2010, so the gap is a decade’s step, not the change between two separate 30-year periods.
Shandon and its neighbours
Blackpool has the coldest January nights next door (3.1°C, 0.5°C colder). Choose a measure to recolour the map; tap a town for its climate.
The towns next door, side by side
The nearest towns of 1,000+ within 19 km: a hill, a valley or the sea can make a real difference over a short distance.
| Town | July high | January low | Rain a year |
|---|---|---|---|
| Shandon | 20.3°C | 3.6°C | 1,084 mm |
| Cork City Centre 0.5 km | 20.3°C about the same | 3.6°C about the same | 1,084 mm |
| Blackpool 0.7 km | 19.8°C 0.5°C cooler | 3.1°C 0.5°C colder | 1,114 mm |
| Gurranebraher 0.7 km | 20.3°C about the same | 3.6°C about the same | 1,084 mm |
| Farranree 0.9 km | 20.0°C about the same | 3.3°C about the same | 1,101 mm |
| St Luke's 1.0 km | 20.3°C about the same | 3.6°C about the same | 1,088 mm |
| South Gate 1.2 km | 20.1°C about the same | 3.5°C about the same | 1,103 mm |
Each town’s colour is Met Éireann’s 1 km grid at its own centre, so towns a few kilometres apart can differ.
Shandon weather by month
Average daily high and low, mean temperature and rain, 1991–2020, for the town itself (Met Éireann’s 1 km grid).
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Rain |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 9.5°C | 3.6°C | 6.5°C | 117 mm |
| February | 10.0°C | 3.6°C | 6.8°C | 87 mm |
| March | 11.4°C | 4.4°C | 7.9°C | 80 mm |
| April | 13.7°C | 5.8°C | 9.7°C | 76 mm |
| May | 16.4°C | 8.3°C | 12.4°C | 70 mm |
| June | 18.8°C | 10.9°C | 14.8°C | 71 mm |
| July | 20.3°C | 12.7°C | 16.5°C | 73 mm |
| August | 20.2°C | 12.3°C | 16.2°C | 81 mm |
| September | 18.2°C | 10.6°C | 14.4°C | 79 mm |
| October | 14.9°C | 8.1°C | 11.5°C | 115 mm |
| November | 11.8°C | 5.6°C | 8.7°C | 115 mm |
| December | 9.9°C | 4.1°C | 7.0°C | 122 mm |
| Year | 14.6°C | 7.5°C | 11.0°C | 1,084 mm |
How much a month can swing
December swings the most: over 30 years its average ranged from 1.7°C (2010) to 8.3°C (2018). May is the most reliable, staying within 3.2°C.
Where Shandon’s numbers come from
Averages over 30 years, not a forecast: the town’s own from Met Éireann’s grid, the frosts, sunshine and degree days from its nearest station.
- Temperature and rain: Met Éireann’s 1991–2020 averages on its 1 km grid (Climatological Notes 22 and 23), read at the grid point nearest Shandon’s population centre (0.5 km away).
- Weather station: the nearest of Met Éireann’s 25 synoptic stations, Cork Airport, 6.3 km south, from Met Éireann’s station list.
- Frosts, sunshine, degree days: Cork Airport’s daily readings from Met Éireann (clidata.met.ie), 1991–2020, averaged by month: a month counts when 27 or more of its days were read (rain and sunshine: every day), and a figure needs 10 such years.
- Then and now: Met Éireann’s 1981–2010 averages on the same 1 km grid, at the same point.
- Altitudes: the town’s ground from the Copernicus GLO-30 surface model (a few metres high in built-up places), the station’s from Met Éireann.
- Comparisons: every Irish town and city neighbourhood of 2,500 or more, read the same way; the five city totals are left out.
- Not on this page: snow and wind. Met Éireann publishes neither on a grid; the frosts and sunshine here are its nearest station’s, not the town’s own.
Met Éireann 30-year averages · Met Éireann open data. Under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 (CC BY 4.0).
Questions about Shandon’s climate
How warm does Shandon get in summer?
The warmest month is July, when afternoons average 20.3°C.
How cold does Shandon get in winter?
January nights average 3.6°C, the coldest of the year. At Cork Airport, the nearest Met Éireann station, the air drops below 0°C on about 14 nights a year (1991–2020).
How much rain does Shandon get?
About 1,084 mm a year, more than 69% of Irish towns. December is the wettest month (122 mm) and May the driest (70 mm).
How sunny is it?
Cork Airport, 6.3 km south, averages about 1,461 hours of sunshine a year (1991–2020, from its daily record). Met Éireann publishes no sunshine figure for the town itself.
Are these figures for Shandon itself?
Partly. The temperatures and rain are Met Éireann’s 1991–2020 averages on its 1 km grid, read at Shandon’s population centre; the frosts, degree days and year-to-year swings are those of Cork Airport, 6.3 km south, the nearest of its synoptic stations.
Where do these figures come from?
Met Éireann’s 1991–2020 climate averages, published as maps of Ireland in 1 km squares (Climatological Notes 22 and 23); the page reads the square at Shandon’s population centre. They are 30-year averages, not a forecast.
Copyright Met Éireann. Source: www.met.ie. This data is published under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) licence. Met Éireann does not accept any liability whatsoever for any error or omission in the data, their availability, or for any loss or damage arising from their use. This material has been modified from the original: TownRatings reads the 1 km grid at each town’s population centre. Today’s forecast for Shandon →
Contains Central Statistics Office (CSO) data, Census 2022, and Tailte Éireann boundaries (CSO Urban Areas, Small Areas, local electoral areas, constituencies), under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 (CC BY 4.0).