Few Irish towns have cooler summers than Dunkineely
January nights here settle around 2.7°C. Expect the heaviest rain in December and the lightest in April. Its yearly rainfall tops that of almost every Irish town. If you like long walks, July and August offer highs of 18°C.
Met Éireann 1991–2020 averages for the town’s own square kilometre.
A year in Dunkineely at a glance
Each month’s typical high and low, in °C.
What stands out about Dunkineely’s climate
Compared with Irish towns, with its place among towns of 2,500+ in County Donegal beside it.
What a year in Dunkineely feels like
Typical highs and lows by season and by month, from Met Éireann’s 1991–2020 averages.
About 1,499 mm of rain a year
December is the wettest month and April the driest. The 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 Dunkineely’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; Dunkineely’s hazards page covers the risks.
Flood & hazards →Met Éireann’s nearest station: Finner
Finner is 17 km south-east of Dunkineely, the nearest of the 25 synoptic stations where Met Éireann records the weather around the clock.
| Distance from the town | 17 km south-east |
| Station altitude | 33 m |
| Town altitude (its centre) | 53 m |
The figures on this page are not this station’s readings: they are Met Éireann’s 1 km grid at Dunkineely itself, which it builds from its whole network of stations.
How Dunkineely 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
Dunkineely’s 1991–2020 average is 0.2°C warmer than 1981–2010’s. The biggest change is in April (+0.4°C).
A year’s rain is 1,499 mm, up 5% from 1,428 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.
Dunkineely and its neighbours
Donegal has the warmest July afternoons (18.7°C, 0.6°C warmer). 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dunkineely | 18.1°C | 2.7°C | 1,499 mm |
| Killybegs 5.9 km | 17.9°C about the same | 3.0°C about the same | 1,771 mm |
| Donegal 16 km | 18.7°C 0.6°C warmer | 2.4°C about the same | 1,496 mm |
| Ballyshannon 17 km | 18.4°C about the same | 2.7°C about the same | 1,261 mm |
| Bundoran 18 km | 18.4°C about the same | 2.9°C about the same | 1,232 mm |
Each town’s colour is Met Éireann’s 1 km grid at its own centre, so towns a few kilometres apart can differ.
Dunkineely 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 | 2.7°C | 5.3°C | 150 mm |
| February | 8.5°C | 2.6°C | 5.5°C | 126 mm |
| March | 9.9°C | 3.5°C | 6.7°C | 111 mm |
| April | 12.2°C | 4.9°C | 8.6°C | 82 mm |
| May | 14.8°C | 7.2°C | 11.0°C | 89 mm |
| June | 16.8°C | 9.7°C | 13.2°C | 91 mm |
| July | 18.1°C | 11.5°C | 14.8°C | 116 mm |
| August | 18.0°C | 11.4°C | 14.7°C | 128 mm |
| September | 16.4°C | 9.8°C | 13.1°C | 122 mm |
| October | 13.3°C | 7.3°C | 10.3°C | 152 mm |
| November | 10.4°C | 4.9°C | 7.6°C | 166 mm |
| December | 8.3°C | 3.0°C | 5.6°C | 167 mm |
| Year | 12.9°C | 6.5°C | 9.7°C | 1,499 mm |
Where Dunkineely’s numbers come from
Averages over 30 years, not a forecast: the town’s own from Met Éireann’s grid, the frosts 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 Dunkineely’s population centre (0.2 km away).
- Weather station: the nearest of Met Éireann’s 25 synoptic stations, Finner, 17 km south-east, from Met Éireann’s station list.
- Frosts and degree days: Finner’s daily readings from Met Éireann (clidata.met.ie), 2011–2020, 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: sunshine at this station, snow and wind. Met Éireann publishes none of them on a grid; the frosts 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 Dunkineely’s climate
How warm does Dunkineely get in summer?
July is the warmest month, with average highs of 18.1°C.
How cold does Dunkineely get in winter?
The coldest nights come in February, averaging 2.6°C. Met Éireann counts frosts only at its weather stations, so there is no frost count for the town itself.
How much rain does Dunkineely get?
About 1,499 mm a year, more than almost every Irish town. December is the wettest month (167 mm) and April 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 Dunkineely itself. Its nearest synoptic station is Finner.
Are these figures for Dunkineely itself?
Partly. The temperatures and rain are Met Éireann’s 1991–2020 averages on its 1 km grid, read at Dunkineely’s population centre; the frosts, degree days and year-to-year swings are those of Finner, 17 km south-east, 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 Dunkineely’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 Dunkineely →
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).