Ballybunion has some of the mildest winter nights among Irish towns
On a normal July day the thermometer tops out near 18.9°C. The seasons sit close together: from a winter night to a summer afternoon the average spans only 15°C. Its July afternoons stay fresher than in 96% of Irish towns. Comfortable outdoor weather lasts from June to September, with highs of 18–19°C.
Met Éireann 1991–2020 averages for the town’s own square kilometre.
A year in Ballybunion at a glance
Each month’s typical high and low, in °C.
What stands out about Ballybunion’s climate
Compared with Irish towns, with its place among towns of 2,500+ in County Kerry beside it.
What a year in Ballybunion feels like
Typical highs and lows by season and by month, from Met Éireann’s 1991–2020 averages.
About 1,212 mm of rain a year
November is the wettest month and May the driest. 5th wettest of 6 towns of 2,500+ in County Kerry. The wettest month brings about 2.0 times the rain of the driest.
Rain by month
Millimetres
Living with Ballybunion’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, Aug and Sep.
Parks & trails →Averages smooth over storms, floods and heatwaves; Ballybunion’s hazards page covers the risks.
Flood & hazards →Met Éireann’s nearest station: Shannon Airport
Shannon Airport is 55 km east of Ballybunion, the nearest of the 25 synoptic stations where Met Éireann records the weather around the clock. The station stands 15 m above sea level; Ballybunion’s centre, 28 m.
| Month | High | Low | Rain | Air frosts | Sun (hours) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 8.9°C | 3.5°C | 103 mm | 4.5 | 52 |
| February | 9.5°C | 3.4°C | 87 mm | 4.2 | 69 |
| March | 11.1°C | 4.1°C | 77 mm | 2.8 | 111 |
| April | 13.6°C | 5.6°C | 62 mm | 0.8 | 162 |
| May | 16.2°C | 8.1°C | 63 mm | 0.0 | 183 |
| June | 18.5°C | 10.7°C | 69 mm | 0.0 | 165 |
| July | 19.6°C | 12.6°C | 76 mm | 0.0 | 135 |
| August | 19.4°C | 12.4°C | 88 mm | 0.0 | 143 |
| September | 17.7°C | 10.6°C | 77 mm | 0.0 | 118 |
| October | 14.4°C | 8.0°C | 95 mm | 0.4 | 93 |
| November | 11.2°C | 5.5°C | 107 mm | 1.6 | 62 |
| December | 9.2°C | 3.9°C | 115 mm | 4.0 | 46 |
| Year | 14.1°C | 7.4°C | 1,020 mm | 18 | 1,338 |
The table is Shannon Airport’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 Ballybunion itself: past 40 km, the station’s frosts and sunshine don’t stand for the town.
How Ballybunion 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 Kerry.
Warmer than it used to be
Ballybunion’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 1,212 mm, up 4% from 1,168 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.
Ballybunion and its neighbours
Listowel has the coldest January nights next door (3.6°C, 0.6°C colder). Listowel has the warmest July afternoons (19.4°C, 0.5°C warmer). 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.
Each town’s colour is Met Éireann’s 1 km grid at its own centre, so towns a few kilometres apart can differ.
Ballybunion 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 | 9.6°C | 4.2°C | 6.9°C | 129 mm |
| February | 9.8°C | 4.1°C | 7.0°C | 101 mm |
| March | 11.2°C | 4.7°C | 8.0°C | 86 mm |
| April | 13.4°C | 6.0°C | 9.7°C | 71 mm |
| May | 15.6°C | 8.3°C | 12.0°C | 69 mm |
| June | 17.7°C | 10.7°C | 14.2°C | 76 mm |
| July | 18.9°C | 12.5°C | 15.7°C | 85 mm |
| August | 18.9°C | 12.5°C | 15.7°C | 99 mm |
| September | 17.5°C | 11.0°C | 14.3°C | 99 mm |
| October | 14.5°C | 8.7°C | 11.6°C | 122 mm |
| November | 11.7°C | 6.3°C | 9.0°C | 139 mm |
| December | 10.0°C | 4.8°C | 7.4°C | 136 mm |
| Year | 14.1°C | 7.8°C | 10.9°C | 1,212 mm |
Where Ballybunion’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 Ballybunion’s population centre (0.6 km away).
- Weather station: the nearest of Met Éireann’s 25 synoptic stations, Shannon Airport, 55 km east, from Met Éireann’s station list.
- Frosts and degree days: Shannon Airport’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 Ballybunion’s climate
How warm does Ballybunion get in summer?
July is the warmest month, with average highs of 18.9°C.
How cold does Ballybunion get in winter?
The coldest nights come in February, averaging 4.1°C. Met Éireann counts frosts only at its weather stations, so there is no frost count for the town itself.
How much rain does Ballybunion get?
About 1,212 mm a year, more than 88% of Irish towns. November is the wettest month (139 mm) and May the driest (69 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 Ballybunion itself. Its nearest synoptic station is Shannon Airport.
Are these figures for Ballybunion itself?
Yes: they are Met Éireann’s 1991–2020 averages on its 1 km grid, read at Ballybunion’s population centre. The nearest of its synoptic weather stations, Shannon Airport, is 55 km east.
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 Ballybunion’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 Ballybunion →
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).