Dunfanaghy sits near the bottom of Irish towns for July heat
On a normal January night the air cools to about 3.2°C. Rain is plentiful here, more than falls on 94% of Irish towns. Since 1981–2010, the year has warmed by 0.3°C, most of all in February. 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 Dunfanaghy at a glance
Each month’s typical high and low, in °C.
What stands out about Dunfanaghy’s climate
Compared with Irish towns, with its place among towns of 2,500+ in County Donegal beside it.
What a year in Dunfanaghy feels like
Typical highs and lows by season and by month, from Met Éireann’s 1991–2020 averages.
About 1,306 mm of rain a year
December is the wettest month and May the driest. 4th 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 Dunfanaghy’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; Dunfanaghy’s hazards page covers the risks.
Flood & hazards →Met Éireann’s nearest station: Malin Head
Malin Head is 46 km north-east of Dunfanaghy, the nearest of the 25 synoptic stations where Met Éireann records the weather around the clock. The station stands 20 m above sea level; Dunfanaghy’s centre, 18 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 Dunfanaghy itself: past 40 km, the station’s frosts and sunshine don’t stand for the town.
How Dunfanaghy 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
Dunfanaghy’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 1,306 mm, up 8% from 1,212 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.
Dunfanaghy 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 | 3.2°C | 5.7°C | 133 mm |
| February | 8.5°C | 3.2°C | 5.9°C | 111 mm |
| March | 9.9°C | 4.0°C | 7.0°C | 91 mm |
| April | 12.2°C | 5.4°C | 8.8°C | 75 mm |
| May | 14.8°C | 7.5°C | 11.1°C | 74 mm |
| June | 16.6°C | 10.0°C | 13.3°C | 84 mm |
| July | 17.9°C | 11.8°C | 14.9°C | 103 mm |
| August | 17.9°C | 11.8°C | 14.9°C | 106 mm |
| September | 16.3°C | 10.4°C | 13.4°C | 107 mm |
| October | 13.4°C | 8.1°C | 10.7°C | 131 mm |
| November | 10.5°C | 5.6°C | 8.0°C | 145 mm |
| December | 8.7°C | 3.6°C | 6.1°C | 145 mm |
| Year | 12.9°C | 7.0°C | 10.0°C | 1,306 mm |
Where Dunfanaghy’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 Dunfanaghy’s population centre (0.4 km away).
- Weather station: the nearest of Met Éireann’s 25 synoptic stations, Malin Head, 46 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 Dunfanaghy’s climate
How warm does Dunfanaghy get in summer?
July is the warmest month, with average highs of 17.9°C.
How cold does Dunfanaghy get in winter?
The coldest nights come in January, 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 Dunfanaghy get?
About 1,306 mm a year, more than 94% of Irish towns. December is the wettest month (145 mm) and May the driest (74 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 Dunfanaghy itself. Its nearest synoptic station is Malin Head.
Are these figures for Dunfanaghy itself?
Yes: they are Met Éireann’s 1991–2020 averages on its 1 km grid, read at Dunfanaghy’s population centre. The nearest of its synoptic weather stations, Malin Head, is 46 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 Dunfanaghy’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 Dunfanaghy →
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).