Pettigo sits near the top of Irish towns for rain, with 1,468 mm a year
The warmest part of a July day comes in at 18.8°C on average. Winter nights are cold: in January they are colder than in 97% of Irish towns. Warming shows here too: 0.3°C more than in 1981–2010, led by February. Picnics, hikes and garden evenings come into their own from June to August, with highs of 18–19°C.
Met Éireann 1991–2020 averages for the town’s own square kilometre.
A year in Pettigo at a glance
Each month’s typical high and low, in °C.
What stands out about Pettigo’s climate
Compared with Irish towns, with its place among towns of 2,500+ in County Donegal beside it.
What a year in Pettigo feels like
Typical highs and lows by season and by month, from Met Éireann’s 1991–2020 averages.
About 1,468 mm of rain a year
December is the wettest month and April the driest. 2nd wettest of 7 towns of 2,500+ in County Donegal. The wettest month brings about 1.9 times the rain of the driest.
Rain by month
Millimetres
Living with Pettigo’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; Pettigo’s hazards page covers the risks.
Flood & hazards →Met Éireann’s nearest station: Finner
Finner is 27 km west of Pettigo, the nearest of the 25 synoptic stations where Met Éireann records the weather around the clock.
| Distance from the town | 27 km west |
| Station altitude | 33 m |
| Town altitude (its centre) | 68 m |
The figures on this page are not this station’s readings: they are Met Éireann’s 1 km grid at Pettigo itself, which it builds from its whole network of stations.
How Pettigo 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
Pettigo’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 1,468 mm, up 3% from 1,425 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.
Pettigo 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 | 7.6°C | 1.8°C | 4.7°C | 150 mm |
| February | 8.2°C | 1.7°C | 5.0°C | 123 mm |
| March | 9.9°C | 2.7°C | 6.3°C | 115 mm |
| April | 12.5°C | 4.1°C | 8.3°C | 88 mm |
| May | 15.4°C | 6.5°C | 10.9°C | 89 mm |
| June | 17.5°C | 9.2°C | 13.3°C | 92 mm |
| July | 18.8°C | 11.0°C | 14.9°C | 111 mm |
| August | 18.5°C | 10.8°C | 14.6°C | 123 mm |
| September | 16.6°C | 9.0°C | 12.8°C | 114 mm |
| October | 13.2°C | 6.3°C | 9.7°C | 142 mm |
| November | 9.9°C | 3.8°C | 6.8°C | 157 mm |
| December | 7.9°C | 2.0°C | 5.0°C | 166 mm |
| Year | 13.0°C | 5.7°C | 9.4°C | 1,468 mm |
Where Pettigo’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 Pettigo’s population centre (0.8 km away).
- Weather station: the nearest of Met Éireann’s 25 synoptic stations, Finner, 27 km west, 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 Pettigo’s climate
How warm does Pettigo get in summer?
July is the warmest month, with average highs of 18.8°C.
How cold does Pettigo get in winter?
The coldest nights come in February, averaging 1.7°C. Met Éireann counts frosts only at its weather stations, so there is no frost count for the town itself.
How much rain does Pettigo get?
About 1,468 mm a year, more than almost every Irish town. December is the wettest month (166 mm) and April the driest (88 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 Pettigo itself. Its nearest synoptic station is Finner.
Are these figures for Pettigo itself?
Partly. The temperatures and rain are Met Éireann’s 1991–2020 averages on its 1 km grid, read at Pettigo’s population centre; the frosts, degree days and year-to-year swings are those of Finner, 27 km west, 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 Pettigo’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 Pettigo →
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).