Photo: P L Chadwick · CC BY-SA 2.0Few Irish towns get more rain than Ballybofey-Stranorlar: 1,395 mm a year
Sunny July days climb to about 19.1°C. Of all months, December brings the most rain and May the least. Of the 6 towns of 2,500+ in County Donegal, it has the warmest July afternoons. 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 Ballybofey-Stranorlar at a glance
Each month’s typical high and low, in °C.
What stands out about Ballybofey-Stranorlar’s climate
Compared with Irish towns, with its place among towns of 2,500+ in County Donegal beside it.
What a year in Ballybofey-Stranorlar feels like
Typical highs and lows by season and by month, from Met Éireann’s 1991–2020 averages.
About 1,395 mm of rain a year
December is the wettest month and May the driest. 2nd wettest of 6 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 Ballybofey-Stranorlar’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: Jun, Jul and Aug.
Parks & trails →Averages smooth over storms, floods and heatwaves; Ballybofey-Stranorlar’s hazards page covers the risks.
Flood & hazards →Met Éireann’s nearest station: Finner
Finner is 45 km south-west of Ballybofey-Stranorlar, the nearest of the 25 synoptic stations where Met Éireann records the weather around the clock.
| Distance from the town | 45 km south-west |
| Station altitude | 33 m |
| Town altitude (its centre) | 21 m |
The figures on this page are not this station’s readings: they are Met Éireann’s 1 km grid at Ballybofey-Stranorlar itself, which it builds from its whole network of stations.
How Ballybofey-Stranorlar 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
Ballybofey-Stranorlar’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 1,395 mm, up 3% from 1,359 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.
Ballybofey-Stranorlar and its neighbours
Every town next door is within half a degree of Ballybofey-Stranorlar 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ballybofey-Stranorlar | 19.1°C | 2.1°C | 1,395 mm |
| Convoy 10 km | 18.9°C about the same | 2.0°C about the same | 1,336 mm |
| Raphoe 14 km | 18.7°C about the same | 1.8°C about the same | 1,245 mm |
| Letterkenny 18 km | 18.8°C about the same | 2.0°C about the same | 1,280 mm |
| Lifford 19 km | 19.1°C about the same | 2.2°C about the same | 1,070 mm |
Each town’s colour is Met Éireann’s 1 km grid at its own centre, so towns a few kilometres apart can differ.
Ballybofey-Stranorlar 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 | 7.9°C | 2.1°C | 5.0°C | 160 mm |
| February | 8.6°C | 2.1°C | 5.4°C | 127 mm |
| March | 10.3°C | 3.0°C | 6.6°C | 110 mm |
| April | 12.8°C | 4.5°C | 8.6°C | 84 mm |
| May | 15.7°C | 6.8°C | 11.2°C | 82 mm |
| June | 17.8°C | 9.5°C | 13.6°C | 82 mm |
| July | 19.1°C | 11.3°C | 15.2°C | 94 mm |
| August | 18.8°C | 11.2°C | 15.0°C | 101 mm |
| September | 16.9°C | 9.3°C | 13.1°C | 104 mm |
| October | 13.5°C | 6.7°C | 10.1°C | 134 mm |
| November | 10.3°C | 4.2°C | 7.2°C | 151 mm |
| December | 8.3°C | 2.4°C | 5.3°C | 166 mm |
| Year | 13.3°C | 6.1°C | 9.7°C | 1,395 mm |
Where Ballybofey-Stranorlar’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 Ballybofey-Stranorlar’s population centre (0.4 km away).
- Weather station: the nearest of Met Éireann’s 25 synoptic stations, Finner, 45 km south-west, 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 Ballybofey-Stranorlar’s climate
How warm does Ballybofey-Stranorlar get in summer?
The warmest month is July, when afternoons average 19.1°C.
How cold does Ballybofey-Stranorlar get in winter?
January nights average 2.1°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 Ballybofey-Stranorlar get?
About 1,395 mm a year, more than 98% of Irish towns. December is the wettest month (166 mm) and May the driest (82 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 Ballybofey-Stranorlar itself. Its nearest synoptic station is Finner.
Are these figures for Ballybofey-Stranorlar itself?
Yes: they are Met Éireann’s 1991–2020 averages on its 1 km grid, read at Ballybofey-Stranorlar’s population centre. The nearest of its synoptic weather stations, Finner, is 45 km south-west.
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 Ballybofey-Stranorlar’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 Ballybofey-Stranorlar →
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).