Raphoe sits near the bottom of Irish towns for July heat
January mornings start at about 1.8°C. Winter nights are cold: in January they are colder than in 97% of Irish towns. Decade by decade the climate has edged up, 0.3°C above 1981–2010. Homes need heating from October to April, the months averaging under 10°C.
Met Éireann 1991–2020 averages for the town’s own square kilometre.
A year in Raphoe at a glance
Each month’s typical high and low, in °C.
What stands out about Raphoe’s climate
Compared with Irish towns, with its place among towns of 2,500+ in County Donegal beside it.
What a year in Raphoe feels like
Typical highs and lows by season and by month, from Met Éireann’s 1991–2020 averages.
About 1,245 mm of rain a year
December is the wettest month and April the driest. 5th 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 Raphoe’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; Raphoe’s hazards page covers the risks.
Flood & hazards →Met Éireann’s nearest station: Malin Head
Malin Head is 58 km north of Raphoe, the nearest of the 25 synoptic stations where Met Éireann records the weather around the clock. The station stands 20 m above sea level; Raphoe’s centre, 67 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 Raphoe itself: past 40 km, the station’s frosts and sunshine don’t stand for the town.
How Raphoe 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
Raphoe’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 1,245 mm, up 2% from 1,218 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.
Raphoe and its neighbours
Every town next door is within half a degree of Raphoe 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Raphoe | 18.7°C | 1.8°C | 1,245 mm |
| Convoy 4.0 km | 18.9°C about the same | 2.0°C about the same | 1,336 mm |
| Lifford 8.3 km | 19.1°C about the same | 2.2°C about the same | 1,070 mm |
| Letterkenny 13 km | 18.8°C about the same | 2.0°C about the same | 1,280 mm |
| Ballybofey-Stranorlar 14 km | 19.1°C about the same | 2.1°C about the same | 1,395 mm |
| Newtowncunningham 15 km | 18.9°C about the same | 2.3°C about the same | 1,120 mm |
| Ramelton 19 km | 18.9°C about the same | 2.4°C 0.6°C milder | 1,189 mm |
Each town’s colour is Met Éireann’s 1 km grid at its own centre, so towns a few kilometres apart can differ.
Raphoe 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 | 134 mm |
| February | 8.2°C | 1.8°C | 5.0°C | 106 mm |
| March | 9.9°C | 2.7°C | 6.3°C | 95 mm |
| April | 12.4°C | 4.2°C | 8.3°C | 75 mm |
| May | 15.3°C | 6.5°C | 10.9°C | 77 mm |
| June | 17.4°C | 9.2°C | 13.3°C | 83 mm |
| July | 18.7°C | 11.1°C | 14.9°C | 95 mm |
| August | 18.5°C | 10.8°C | 14.7°C | 104 mm |
| September | 16.5°C | 9.0°C | 12.8°C | 93 mm |
| October | 13.2°C | 6.5°C | 9.8°C | 114 mm |
| November | 10.0°C | 3.9°C | 6.9°C | 126 mm |
| December | 7.9°C | 2.0°C | 4.9°C | 143 mm |
| Year | 12.9°C | 5.8°C | 9.4°C | 1,245 mm |
Where Raphoe’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 Raphoe’s population centre (0.5 km away).
- Weather station: the nearest of Met Éireann’s 25 synoptic stations, Malin Head, 58 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 Raphoe’s climate
How warm does Raphoe get in summer?
July is the warmest month, with average highs of 18.7°C.
How cold does Raphoe get in winter?
The coldest nights come in January, averaging 1.8°C. Met Éireann counts frosts only at its weather stations, so there is no frost count for the town itself.
How much rain does Raphoe get?
About 1,245 mm a year, more than 90% of Irish towns. December is the wettest month (143 mm) and April the driest (75 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 Raphoe itself. Its nearest synoptic station is Malin Head.
Are these figures for Raphoe itself?
Yes: they are Met Éireann’s 1991–2020 averages on its 1 km grid, read at Raphoe’s population centre. The nearest of its synoptic weather stations, Malin Head, is 58 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 Raphoe’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 Raphoe →
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).