Rainfall in Rathgar trails that of 77% of Irish towns: 784 mm a year
Midsummer highs settle at about 19.9°C. Wet weather is most frequent in November and least in April. Waterproofs come out on about 139 days a year, each with 1 mm of rain or more.
Met Éireann 1991–2020 averages for the town’s own square kilometre.
A year in Rathgar at a glance
Each month’s typical high and low, in °C.
What stands out about Rathgar’s climate
Compared with Irish towns, with its place among towns and neighbourhoods of 2,500+ in County Dublin beside it.
What a year in Rathgar feels like
Typical highs and lows by season and by month, from Met Éireann’s 1991–2020 averages.
33 frosts and 3 days of 25°C a year
Ground frosts, when the grass drops below 0°C, come on about 109 nights a year. Air frosts come mostly from November to April, most of all in December (about 8).
Air frosts by month
Average nights below 0°C
Ground frosts by month
Average nights with the grass below 0°C
Counted from Phoenix Park’s daily readings, 2003–2020, 8.1 km north-west of Rathgar: Met Éireann publishes these for its stations only.
About 784 mm of rain a year
November is the wettest month and April the driest. 44th wettest of 116 towns and neighbourhoods of 2,500+ in County Dublin. The wettest month brings about 1.6 times the rain of the driest. Phoenix Park records 1 mm or more on about 139 days a year, and 10 mm on about 19.
Rain by month
Millimetres
Heating a home in Rathgar
86% of a year’s heating need falls between October and April. Months averaging under 10°C: November to April.
Degree days add up how far each day’s mean temperature falls below 15.5°C over a year.
Living with Rathgar’s climate
What the averages mean for a garden, a free afternoon and a bad-weather day.
In half of years the last air frost at Phoenix Park comes by 20 April and the first by 12 November: about 206 frost-free days in between.
Highs of 17–27°C with lows of 8°C or more: Jun, Jul, Aug and Sep.
Parks & trails →Averages smooth over storms, floods and heatwaves; Rathgar’s hazards page covers the risks.
Flood & hazards →Met Éireann’s nearest station: Phoenix Park
Phoenix Park is 8.1 km north-west of Rathgar, the nearest of the 25 synoptic stations where Met Éireann records the weather around the clock. The station stands 48 m above sea level; Rathgar’s centre, 40 m.
| Month | High | Low | Rain | Air frosts |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 8.4°C | 2.6°C | 63 mm | 6.6 |
| February | 8.9°C | 2.1°C | 51 mm | 7.5 |
| March | 10.7°C | 2.7°C | 55 mm | 5.9 |
| April | 13.3°C | 4.5°C | 44 mm | 1.4 |
| May | 16.1°C | 7.0°C | 51 mm | 0.1 |
| June | 18.8°C | 9.7°C | 69 mm | 0.0 |
| July | 20.3°C | 11.5°C | 69 mm | 0.0 |
| August | 19.7°C | 11.1°C | 77 mm | 0.0 |
| September | 17.9°C | 9.3°C | 61 mm | 0.0 |
| October | 14.5°C | 7.0°C | 76 mm | 0.5 |
| November | 10.7°C | 4.3°C | 81 mm | 3.6 |
| December | 8.7°C | 2.8°C | 73 mm | 7.7 |
| Year | 14.0°C | 6.2°C | 771 mm | 33 |
The table is Phoenix Park’s own record, averaged over 2003–2020 from its daily readings (ours, not a Met Éireann table). The temperatures and rain elsewhere on this page are Met Éireann’s 1 km grid at Rathgar itself; the frosts and degree days are this station’s.
How Rathgar 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 and neighbourhoods of 2,500+ in County Dublin.
Warmer than it used to be
Rathgar’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 784 mm, up 4% from 756 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.
Rathgar and its neighbours
Every town next door is within half a degree of Rathgar 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rathgar | 19.9°C | 2.9°C | 784 mm |
| Terenure 1.4 km | 20.0°C about the same | 2.9°C about the same | 767 mm |
| Rathmines West 1.4 km | 20.0°C about the same | 3.0°C about the same | 772 mm |
| Churchtown 1.6 km | 19.9°C about the same | 3.0°C about the same | 801 mm |
| Rathmines East 1.7 km | 19.9°C about the same | 3.2°C about the same | 770 mm |
| Clonskeagh 2.3 km | 19.9°C about the same | 3.2°C about the same | 774 mm |
| Rathfarnham 2.4 km | 19.9°C about the same | 2.8°C about the same | 821 mm |
Each town’s colour is Met Éireann’s 1 km grid at its own centre, so towns a few kilometres apart can differ.
Rathgar 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 | 8.5°C | 2.9°C | 5.7°C | 67 mm |
| February | 9.0°C | 2.9°C | 6.0°C | 57 mm |
| March | 10.6°C | 3.8°C | 7.2°C | 55 mm |
| April | 12.8°C | 5.3°C | 9.1°C | 54 mm |
| May | 15.6°C | 7.7°C | 11.7°C | 57 mm |
| June | 18.3°C | 10.3°C | 14.3°C | 64 mm |
| July | 19.9°C | 12.2°C | 16.1°C | 58 mm |
| August | 19.7°C | 11.9°C | 15.8°C | 65 mm |
| September | 17.6°C | 10.2°C | 13.9°C | 63 mm |
| October | 14.1°C | 7.7°C | 10.9°C | 79 mm |
| November | 10.9°C | 5.0°C | 8.0°C | 89 mm |
| December | 8.8°C | 3.1°C | 6.0°C | 76 mm |
| Year | 13.8°C | 6.9°C | 10.4°C | 784 mm |
How much a month can swing
December swings the most: over 18 years its average ranged from 0.1°C (2010) to 8.9°C (2015). August is the most reliable, staying within 2.0°C.
Where Rathgar’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 Rathgar’s population centre (0.4 km away).
- Weather station: the nearest of Met Éireann’s 25 synoptic stations, Phoenix Park, 8.1 km north-west, from Met Éireann’s station list.
- Frosts and degree days: Phoenix Park’s daily readings from Met Éireann (clidata.met.ie), 2003–2020, 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 Rathgar’s climate
How warm does Rathgar get in summer?
July is the warmest month, with average highs of 19.9°C.
How cold does Rathgar get in winter?
The coldest nights come in January, averaging 2.9°C. At Phoenix Park, the nearest Met Éireann station, the air drops below 0°C on about 33 nights a year (2003–2020).
How much rain does Rathgar get?
About 784 mm a year, less than 77% of Irish towns. November is the wettest month (89 mm) and April the driest (54 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 Rathgar itself. Its nearest synoptic station is Phoenix Park.
Are these figures for Rathgar itself?
Partly. The temperatures and rain are Met Éireann’s 1991–2020 averages on its 1 km grid, read at Rathgar’s population centre; the frosts, degree days and year-to-year swings are those of Phoenix Park, 8.1 km north-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 Rathgar’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 Rathgar →
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).