Tuam has cooler summers than 86% of Irish towns
January mornings start at about 2.4°C. Its yearly rainfall tops that of 85% of Irish towns. Compared with 1981–2010, the average now sits 0.3°C higher. 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 Tuam at a glance
Each month’s typical high and low, in °C.
What stands out about Tuam’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 Tuam 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, 23 km north-west of Tuam: Met Éireann publishes these for its stations only.
About 1,186 mm of rain a year
December is the wettest month and May the driest. 19th wettest of 20 towns and neighbourhoods of 2,500+ in County Galway. The wettest month brings about 1.8 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 Tuam
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 Tuam’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; Tuam’s hazards page covers the risks.
Flood & hazards →Met Éireann’s nearest station: Claremorris
Claremorris is 23 km north-west of Tuam, the nearest of the 25 synoptic stations where Met Éireann records the weather around the clock. The station stands 68 m above sea level; Tuam’s centre, 45 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 Tuam itself; the frosts and degree days are this station’s.
How Tuam 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
Tuam’s 1991–2020 average is 0.3°C warmer than 1981–2010’s. The biggest change is in February (+0.3°C).
A year’s rain is 1,186 mm, up 2% from 1,164 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.
Nearby towns’ climate
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tuam | 19.4°C | 2.4°C | 1,186 mm |
| Headford 17 km | 19.4°C about the same | 2.7°C about the same | 1,258 mm |
Tuam 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 | 8.6°C | 2.4°C | 5.5°C | 122 mm |
| February | 9.2°C | 2.3°C | 5.7°C | 99 mm |
| March | 10.8°C | 3.2°C | 7.0°C | 89 mm |
| April | 13.4°C | 4.6°C | 9.0°C | 73 mm |
| May | 16.1°C | 7.0°C | 11.5°C | 72 mm |
| June | 18.4°C | 9.5°C | 14.0°C | 78 mm |
| July | 19.4°C | 11.5°C | 15.4°C | 89 mm |
| August | 19.3°C | 11.3°C | 15.3°C | 99 mm |
| September | 17.4°C | 9.4°C | 13.4°C | 90 mm |
| October | 14.1°C | 6.8°C | 10.4°C | 114 mm |
| November | 10.9°C | 4.7°C | 7.8°C | 129 mm |
| December | 8.8°C | 2.6°C | 5.7°C | 133 mm |
| Year | 13.9°C | 6.3°C | 10.1°C | 1,186 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 Tuam’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 Tuam’s population centre (0.5 km away).
- Weather station: the nearest of Met Éireann’s 25 synoptic stations, Claremorris, 23 km north-west, 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 Tuam’s climate
How warm does Tuam get in summer?
The warmest month is July, when afternoons average 19.4°C.
How cold does Tuam get in winter?
February nights average 2.3°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 Tuam get?
About 1,186 mm a year, more than 85% of Irish towns. December is the wettest month (133 mm) and May the driest (72 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 Tuam itself. Its nearest synoptic station is Claremorris.
Are these figures for Tuam itself?
Partly. The temperatures and rain are Met Éireann’s 1991–2020 averages on its 1 km grid, read at Tuam’s population centre; the frosts, degree days and year-to-year swings are those of Claremorris, 23 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 Tuam’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 Tuam →
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).