Lifford has cooler summers than 94% of Irish towns
In January the night’s low is typically 2.2°C. Winter nights are cold: in January they are colder than in 81% of Irish towns. Warming shows here too: 0.2°C more than in 1981–2010, led by May. Warm coats and heating bills mark the months from November to April, when means dip under 10°C.
Met Éireann 1991–2020 averages for the town’s own square kilometre.
A year in Lifford at a glance
Each month’s typical high and low, in °C.
What stands out about Lifford’s climate
Compared with Irish towns, with its place among towns of 2,500+ in County Donegal beside it.
What a year in Lifford feels like
Typical highs and lows by season and by month, from Met Éireann’s 1991–2020 averages.
About 1,070 mm of rain a year
December is the wettest month and April the driest. 7th wettest of 7 towns of 2,500+ in County Donegal. The wettest month brings about 1.8 times the rain of the driest.
Rain by month
Millimetres
Living with Lifford’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; Lifford’s hazards page covers the risks.
Flood & hazards →Met Éireann’s nearest station: Malin Head
Malin Head is 61 km north of Lifford, the nearest of the 25 synoptic stations where Met Éireann records the weather around the clock. The station stands 20 m above sea level; Lifford’s centre, 23 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 Lifford itself: past 40 km, the station’s frosts and sunshine don’t stand for the town.
How Lifford 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
Lifford’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 1,070 mm, up 4% from 1,029 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.
Lifford and its neighbours
Every town next door is within half a degree of Lifford 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lifford | 19.1°C | 2.2°C | 1,070 mm |
| Raphoe 8.3 km | 18.7°C about the same | 1.8°C about the same | 1,245 mm |
| Convoy 12 km | 18.9°C about the same | 2.0°C about the same | 1,336 mm |
| Newtowncunningham 18 km | 18.9°C about the same | 2.3°C about the same | 1,120 mm |
| Ballybofey-Stranorlar 19 km | 19.1°C about the same | 2.1°C about the same | 1,395 mm |
Each town’s colour is Met Éireann’s 1 km grid at its own centre, so towns a few kilometres apart can differ.
Lifford 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 | 2.2°C | 5.0°C | 113 mm |
| February | 8.5°C | 2.1°C | 5.3°C | 90 mm |
| March | 10.2°C | 3.1°C | 6.6°C | 80 mm |
| April | 12.8°C | 4.5°C | 8.6°C | 66 mm |
| May | 15.7°C | 6.9°C | 11.3°C | 67 mm |
| June | 17.8°C | 9.5°C | 13.7°C | 72 mm |
| July | 19.1°C | 11.4°C | 15.2°C | 81 mm |
| August | 18.9°C | 11.2°C | 15.1°C | 89 mm |
| September | 16.9°C | 9.4°C | 13.1°C | 82 mm |
| October | 13.5°C | 6.8°C | 10.1°C | 100 mm |
| November | 10.3°C | 4.3°C | 7.3°C | 110 mm |
| December | 8.2°C | 2.4°C | 5.3°C | 120 mm |
| Year | 13.3°C | 6.2°C | 9.7°C | 1,070 mm |
Where Lifford’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 Lifford’s population centre (0.4 km away).
- Weather station: the nearest of Met Éireann’s 25 synoptic stations, Malin Head, 61 km north, 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 Lifford’s climate
How warm does Lifford get in summer?
July is the warmest month, with average highs of 19.1°C.
How cold does Lifford get in winter?
The coldest nights come in February, averaging 2.1°C. Met Éireann counts frosts only at its weather stations, so there is no frost count for the town itself.
How much rain does Lifford get?
About 1,070 mm a year, more than 66% of Irish towns. December is the wettest month (120 mm) and April the driest (66 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 Lifford itself. Its nearest synoptic station is Malin Head.
Are these figures for Lifford itself?
Yes: they are Met Éireann’s 1991–2020 averages on its 1 km grid, read at Lifford’s population centre. The nearest of its synoptic weather stations, Malin Head, is 61 km north.
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 Lifford’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 Lifford →
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).