Wet weather: 1,258 mm a year falls on Headford, more than on 91% of Irish towns
The coldest hours of a January night bottom out at 2.7°C on average. December is the wettest month, April the driest. Its July afternoons stay fresher than in 86% of Irish towns. Gritters and ice scrapers earn their keep on roughly 36 nights a year below 0°C.
Met Éireann 1991–2020 averages for the town’s own square kilometre.
A year in Headford at a glance
Each month’s typical high and low, in °C.
What stands out about Headford’s climate
Compared with Irish towns, with its place among towns and neighbourhoods of 2,500+ in County Galway beside it.
What a year in Headford feels like
Typical highs and lows by season and by month, from Met Éireann’s 1991–2020 averages.
36 frosts and 3 days of 25°C a year
Ground frosts, when the grass drops below 0°C, come on about 92 nights a year. Air frosts come mostly from October to April, most of all in February (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 Claremorris’s daily readings, 1991–2020, 28 km north of Headford: Met Éireann publishes these for its stations only. At that distance, read them as the area’s climate.
About 1,258 mm of rain a year
December is the wettest month and April the driest. 11th wettest of 21 towns and neighbourhoods of 2,500+ in County Galway. The wettest month brings about 1.9 times the rain of the driest. Claremorris records 1 mm or more on about 193 days a year, and 10 mm on about 38.
Rain by month
Millimetres
Heating a home in Headford
83% 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 Headford’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 Claremorris comes by 17 April and the first by 4 November: about 201 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; Headford’s hazards page covers the risks.
Flood & hazards →Met Éireann’s nearest station: Claremorris
Claremorris is 28 km north of Headford, the nearest of the 25 synoptic stations where Met Éireann records the weather around the clock. The station stands 68 m above sea level; Headford’s centre, 12 m.
| Month | High | Low | Rain | Air frosts |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 8.0°C | 2.3°C | 140 mm | 7.4 |
| February | 8.5°C | 1.9°C | 111 mm | 8.4 |
| March | 10.3°C | 2.9°C | 98 mm | 5.5 |
| April | 12.9°C | 4.2°C | 79 mm | 2.2 |
| May | 15.5°C | 6.4°C | 69 mm | 0.5 |
| June | 17.6°C | 9.1°C | 73 mm | 0.0 |
| July | 18.8°C | 10.8°C | 93 mm | 0.0 |
| August | 18.6°C | 10.6°C | 103 mm | 0.0 |
| September | 16.8°C | 8.8°C | 90 mm | 0.1 |
| October | 13.5°C | 6.2°C | 120 mm | 1.0 |
| November | 10.3°C | 4.0°C | 135 mm | 3.8 |
| December | 8.0°C | 2.5°C | 138 mm | 6.7 |
| Year | 13.2°C | 5.8°C | 1,250 mm | 36 |
The table is Claremorris’s own record, averaged over 1991–2020 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 Headford itself; the frosts and degree days are this station’s.
How Headford 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 Galway.
Warmer than it used to be
Headford’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 1,258 mm, up 3% from 1,225 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.
Headford and its neighbours
Every town next door is within half a degree of Headford 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Headford | 19.4°C | 2.7°C | 1,258 mm |
| Oughterard 15 km | 19.2°C about the same | 3.0°C about the same | 1,539 mm |
| Maigh Cuilinn 16 km | 18.7°C 0.7°C cooler | 2.8°C about the same | 1,509 mm |
| Tuam 17 km | 19.4°C about the same | 2.4°C about the same | 1,186 mm |
| Baile Chláir 18 km | 19.3°C about the same | 2.8°C about the same | 1,203 mm |
| Ballinrobe 19 km | 19.2°C about the same | 2.6°C about the same | 1,344 mm |
Each town’s colour is Met Éireann’s 1 km grid at its own centre, so towns a few kilometres apart can differ.
Headford 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 | 8.7°C | 2.7°C | 5.7°C | 134 mm |
| February | 9.3°C | 2.7°C | 6.0°C | 106 mm |
| March | 10.9°C | 3.5°C | 7.2°C | 95 mm |
| April | 13.4°C | 5.0°C | 9.2°C | 75 mm |
| May | 16.1°C | 7.3°C | 11.7°C | 76 mm |
| June | 18.3°C | 9.9°C | 14.1°C | 79 mm |
| July | 19.4°C | 11.8°C | 15.6°C | 91 mm |
| August | 19.2°C | 11.6°C | 15.4°C | 102 mm |
| September | 17.4°C | 9.7°C | 13.6°C | 96 mm |
| October | 14.1°C | 7.1°C | 10.6°C | 122 mm |
| November | 11.0°C | 4.8°C | 7.9°C | 138 mm |
| December | 9.0°C | 3.0°C | 6.0°C | 144 mm |
| Year | 13.9°C | 6.6°C | 10.2°C | 1,258 mm |
How much a month can swing
December swings the most: over 30 years its average ranged from −0.4°C (2010) to 7.4°C (2018). April is the most reliable, staying within 4.0°C.
Where Headford’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 Headford’s population centre (0.1 km away).
- Weather station: the nearest of Met Éireann’s 25 synoptic stations, Claremorris, 28 km north, from Met Éireann’s station list.
- Frosts and degree days: Claremorris’s daily readings from Met Éireann (clidata.met.ie), 1991–2020, 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 Headford’s climate
How warm does Headford get in summer?
The warmest month is July, when afternoons average 19.4°C.
How cold does Headford get in winter?
January nights average 2.7°C, the coldest of the year. At Claremorris, the nearest Met Éireann station, the air drops below 0°C on about 36 nights a year (1991–2020).
How much rain does Headford get?
About 1,258 mm a year, more than 91% of Irish towns. December is the wettest month (144 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 Headford itself. Its nearest synoptic station is Claremorris.
Are these figures for Headford itself?
Partly. The temperatures and rain are Met Éireann’s 1991–2020 averages on its 1 km grid, read at Headford’s population centre; the frosts, degree days and year-to-year swings are those of Claremorris, 28 km north, 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 Headford’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 Headford →
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).