The Glen is wetter than 80% of Irish towns: 1,124 mm of rain a year
High summer brings afternoon highs near 20.0°C. The year changes little: the coldest month’s nights and the warmest month’s afternoons are only 17°C apart. By July afternoons alone, it runs hotter than 69% of Irish towns. Frost greets about 14 mornings a year, so leave time to clear the car.
Met Éireann 1991–2020 averages for the town’s own square kilometre.
A year in The Glen at a glance
Each month’s typical high and low, in °C.
What stands out about The Glen’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 The Glen 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, 8.0 km south of The Glen: Met Éireann publishes these for its stations only.
About 1,124 mm of rain a year
December is the wettest month and May the driest. 20th 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 The Glen
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 The Glen’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; The Glen’s hazards page covers the risks.
Flood & hazards →Met Éireann’s nearest station: Cork Airport
Cork Airport is 8.0 km south of The Glen, the nearest of the 25 synoptic stations where Met Éireann records the weather around the clock. The station stands 155 m above sea level; The Glen’s centre, 53 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 The Glen itself; the frosts, sunshine and degree days are this station’s.
How The Glen 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
The Glen’s 1991–2020 average is 0.3°C warmer than 1981–2010’s. The biggest change is in May (+0.4°C).
A year’s rain is 1,124 mm, up 2% from 1,097 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.
The Glen and its neighbours
Every town next door is within half a degree of The Glen in January and July. 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| The Glen | 20.0°C | 3.2°C | 1,124 mm |
| Blackpool 1.1 km | 19.8°C about the same | 3.1°C about the same | 1,114 mm |
| Farranree 1.3 km | 20.0°C about the same | 3.3°C about the same | 1,101 mm |
| Mayfield 1.4 km | 20.0°C about the same | 3.1°C about the same | 1,133 mm |
| Montenotte 1.4 km | 19.8°C about the same | 3.0°C about the same | 1,120 mm |
| St Luke's 1.5 km | 20.3°C about the same | 3.6°C about the same | 1,088 mm |
| Shandon 1.8 km | 20.3°C about the same | 3.6°C about the same | 1,084 mm |
Each town’s colour is Met Éireann’s 1 km grid at its own centre, so towns a few kilometres apart can differ.
The Glen 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 | 9.2°C | 3.2°C | 6.2°C | 119 mm |
| February | 9.7°C | 3.2°C | 6.4°C | 89 mm |
| March | 11.1°C | 4.0°C | 7.5°C | 83 mm |
| April | 13.4°C | 5.3°C | 9.3°C | 79 mm |
| May | 16.1°C | 7.8°C | 12.0°C | 73 mm |
| June | 18.5°C | 10.3°C | 14.4°C | 74 mm |
| July | 20.0°C | 12.2°C | 16.1°C | 77 mm |
| August | 19.8°C | 11.8°C | 15.8°C | 86 mm |
| September | 17.9°C | 10.1°C | 14.0°C | 82 mm |
| October | 14.6°C | 7.7°C | 11.1°C | 119 mm |
| November | 11.5°C | 5.1°C | 8.3°C | 118 mm |
| December | 9.6°C | 3.6°C | 6.6°C | 125 mm |
| Year | 14.3°C | 7.0°C | 10.7°C | 1,124 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 The Glen’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 The Glen’s population centre (0.3 km away).
- Weather station: the nearest of Met Éireann’s 25 synoptic stations, Cork Airport, 8.0 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 The Glen’s climate
How warm does The Glen get in summer?
July is the warmest month, with average highs of 20.0°C.
How cold does The Glen get in winter?
The coldest nights come in January, averaging 3.2°C. 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 The Glen get?
About 1,124 mm a year, more than 80% of Irish towns. December is the wettest month (125 mm) and May the driest (73 mm).
How sunny is it?
Cork Airport, 8.0 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 The Glen itself?
Partly. The temperatures and rain are Met Éireann’s 1991–2020 averages on its 1 km grid, read at The Glen’s population centre; the frosts, degree days and year-to-year swings are those of Cork Airport, 8.0 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 The Glen’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 The Glen →
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).