Photo: MaxPride · CC BY-SA 4.0Ailt An Chorráin has some of the coolest summers among Irish towns
The coldest hours of a January night bottom out at 3.3°C on average. Winter and summer sit 15°C apart. By rainfall alone, it ranks wetter than 98% of Irish towns. Central heating does most of its work from November to April, in months below 10°C on average.
Met Éireann 1991–2020 averages for the town’s own square kilometre.
A year in Ailt An Chorráin at a glance
Each month’s typical high and low, in °C.
What stands out about Ailt An Chorráin’s climate
Compared with Irish towns, with its place among towns of 2,500+ in County Donegal beside it.
What a year in Ailt An Chorráin feels like
Typical highs and lows by season and by month, from Met Éireann’s 1991–2020 averages.
About 1,414 mm of rain a year
December is the wettest month and April the driest. 2nd wettest of 7 towns of 2,500+ in County Donegal. The wettest month brings about 2.0 times the rain of the driest.
Rain by month
Millimetres
Living with Ailt An Chorráin’s climate
What the averages mean for a garden, a free afternoon and a bad-weather day.
Highs of 17–27°C with lows of 8°C or more: Jul and Aug.
Parks & trails →Averages smooth over storms, floods and heatwaves; Ailt An Chorráin’s hazards page covers the risks.
Flood & hazards →Met Éireann’s nearest station: Finner
Finner is 56 km south of Ailt An Chorráin, the nearest of the 25 synoptic stations where Met Éireann records the weather around the clock.
| Distance from the town | 56 km south |
| Station altitude | 33 m |
| Town altitude (its centre) | 25 m |
The figures on this page are not this station’s readings: they are Met Éireann’s 1 km grid at Ailt An Chorráin itself, which it builds from its whole network of stations.
How Ailt An Chorráin 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 of 2,500+ in County Donegal.
Warmer than it used to be
Ailt An Chorráin’s 1991–2020 average is 0.2°C warmer than 1981–2010’s. The biggest change is in February (+0.4°C).
A year’s rain is 1,414 mm, up 3% from 1,371 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.
Nearby towns’ climate
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ailt An Chorráin | 17.6°C | 3.3°C | 1,414 mm |
| An Clochán Liath 5.5 km | 17.9°C about the same | 3.0°C about the same | 1,454 mm |
Ailt An Chorráin 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 | 8.2°C | 3.3°C | 5.7°C | 145 mm |
| February | 8.6°C | 3.2°C | 5.9°C | 119 mm |
| March | 9.8°C | 4.1°C | 7.0°C | 102 mm |
| April | 12.0°C | 5.5°C | 8.8°C | 77 mm |
| May | 14.6°C | 7.6°C | 11.1°C | 78 mm |
| June | 16.4°C | 10.1°C | 13.3°C | 89 mm |
| July | 17.6°C | 11.7°C | 14.7°C | 110 mm |
| August | 17.7°C | 11.8°C | 14.8°C | 120 mm |
| September | 16.1°C | 10.4°C | 13.2°C | 117 mm |
| October | 13.3°C | 8.1°C | 10.7°C | 145 mm |
| November | 10.5°C | 5.7°C | 8.1°C | 156 mm |
| December | 8.7°C | 3.7°C | 6.2°C | 158 mm |
| Year | 12.8°C | 7.1°C | 9.9°C | 1,414 mm |
Where Ailt An Chorráin’s numbers come from
Averages over 30 years, not a forecast.
- 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 Ailt An Chorráin’s population centre (0.2 km away).
- Weather station: the nearest of Met Éireann’s 25 synoptic stations, Finner, 56 km south, from Met Éireann’s station list.
- Frosts and degree days: Finner’s daily readings, 2011–2020, in the station table only: past 40 km they don’t stand for the town.
- 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: sunshine, frost days, warm days, snow and wind. Met Éireann publishes no 1991–2020 grid for them, only tables for its stations, so no town has a figure of its own.
Met Éireann 30-year averages · Met Éireann open data. Under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 (CC BY 4.0).
Questions about Ailt An Chorráin’s climate
How warm does Ailt An Chorráin get in summer?
August is the warmest month, with average highs of 17.7°C.
How cold does Ailt An Chorráin get in winter?
The coldest nights come in February, averaging 3.2°C. Met Éireann counts frosts only at its weather stations, so there is no frost count for the town itself.
How much rain does Ailt An Chorráin get?
About 1,414 mm a year, more than 98% of Irish towns. December is the wettest month (158 mm) and April the driest (77 mm).
How sunny is it?
Met Éireann publishes its 1991–2020 sunshine averages for its weather stations only, not on the 1 km grid this page reads, so there is no sunshine figure for Ailt An Chorráin itself. Its nearest synoptic station is Finner.
Are these figures for Ailt An Chorráin itself?
Yes: they are Met Éireann’s 1991–2020 averages on its 1 km grid, read at Ailt An Chorráin’s population centre. The nearest of its synoptic weather stations, Finner, is 56 km south.
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 Ailt An Chorráin’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 Ailt An Chorráin →
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).