Photo: Joseph Mischyshyn · CC BY-SA 2.0An Fál Carrach has some of the coolest summers among Irish towns
January mornings start at about 3.0°C. From frosty January to warm July, readings climb 15°C. It is a wet place: more rain falls here than on 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 An Fál Carrach at a glance
Each month’s typical high and low, in °C.
What stands out about An Fál Carrach’s climate
Compared with Irish towns, with its place among towns of 2,500+ in County Donegal beside it.
What a year in An Fál Carrach feels like
Typical highs and lows by season and by month, from Met Éireann’s 1991–2020 averages.
About 1,406 mm of rain a year
November is the wettest month and April the driest. 2nd wettest of 7 towns of 2,500+ in County Donegal. The wettest month brings about 2.1 times the rain of the driest.
Rain by month
Millimetres
Living with An Fál Carrach’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; An Fál Carrach’s hazards page covers the risks.
Flood & hazards →Met Éireann’s nearest station: Malin Head
Malin Head is 56 km north-east of An Fál Carrach, the nearest of the 25 synoptic stations where Met Éireann records the weather around the clock. The station stands 20 m above sea level; An Fál Carrach’s centre, 51 m.
| Month | High | Low | Rain | Air frosts | Sun (hours) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 8.2°C | 3.9°C | 119 mm | 1.8 | 41 |
| February | 8.4°C | 3.8°C | 95 mm | 1.5 | 74 |
| March | 9.4°C | 4.4°C | 81 mm | 1.1 | 121 |
| April | 11.1°C | 5.8°C | 64 mm | 0.2 | 169 |
| May | 13.2°C | 7.8°C | 65 mm | 0.0 | 216 |
| June | 15.2°C | 10.2°C | 74 mm | 0.0 | 166 |
| July | 16.9°C | 11.9°C | 86 mm | 0.0 | 147 |
| August | 17.1°C | 12.1°C | 98 mm | 0.0 | 142 |
| September | 15.8°C | 10.8°C | 95 mm | 0.0 | 112 |
| October | 13.2°C | 8.6°C | 110 mm | 0.0 | 83 |
| November | 10.5°C | 6.2°C | 122 mm | 0.3 | 45 |
| December | 8.8°C | 4.4°C | 131 mm | 1.3 | 35 |
| Year | 12.3°C | 7.5°C | 1,138 mm | 6 | 1,348 |
The table is Malin Head’s own record, averaged over 1991–2020 from its daily readings (ours, not a Met Éireann table). The rest of the page is Met Éireann’s 1 km grid at An Fál Carrach itself: past 40 km, the station’s frosts and sunshine don’t stand for the town.
How An Fál Carrach 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
An Fál Carrach’s 1991–2020 average is 0.3°C warmer than 1981–2010’s. The biggest change is in February (+0.4°C).
A year’s rain is 1,406 mm, up 7% from 1,308 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.
An Fál Carrach 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 | 8.0°C | 3.0°C | 5.5°C | 145 mm |
| February | 8.4°C | 3.0°C | 5.7°C | 121 mm |
| March | 9.7°C | 3.8°C | 6.7°C | 99 mm |
| April | 12.0°C | 5.2°C | 8.6°C | 79 mm |
| May | 14.6°C | 7.3°C | 10.9°C | 79 mm |
| June | 16.5°C | 9.8°C | 13.2°C | 86 mm |
| July | 17.7°C | 11.5°C | 14.6°C | 107 mm |
| August | 17.7°C | 11.6°C | 14.6°C | 113 mm |
| September | 16.1°C | 10.1°C | 13.1°C | 114 mm |
| October | 13.2°C | 7.8°C | 10.5°C | 143 mm |
| November | 10.3°C | 5.4°C | 7.8°C | 164 mm |
| December | 8.5°C | 3.4°C | 6.0°C | 156 mm |
| Year | 12.7°C | 6.8°C | 9.8°C | 1,406 mm |
Where An Fál Carrach’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 An Fál Carrach’s population centre (0.2 km away).
- Weather station: the nearest of Met Éireann’s 25 synoptic stations, Malin Head, 56 km north-east, from Met Éireann’s station list.
- Frosts and degree days: Malin Head’s daily readings, 1991–2020, 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 An Fál Carrach’s climate
How warm does An Fál Carrach get in summer?
The warmest month is July, when afternoons average 17.7°C.
How cold does An Fál Carrach get in winter?
January nights average 3.0°C, the coldest of the year. Met Éireann counts frosts only at its weather stations, so there is no frost count for the town itself.
How much rain does An Fál Carrach get?
About 1,406 mm a year, more than 98% of Irish towns. November is the wettest month (164 mm) and April the driest (79 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 An Fál Carrach itself. Its nearest synoptic station is Malin Head.
Are these figures for An Fál Carrach itself?
Yes: they are Met Éireann’s 1991–2020 averages on its 1 km grid, read at An Fál Carrach’s population centre. The nearest of its synoptic weather stations, Malin Head, is 56 km north-east.
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 An Fál Carrach’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 An Fál Carrach →
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).