Portmagee sits near the top of Irish towns for mild winters
July afternoons average 18.1°C. Summers stay cool: July afternoons here are cooler than in almost every Irish town. Decade by decade the climate has edged up, 0.2°C above 1981–2010. The frost-free window for a garden runs roughly 8 March to 3 December.
Met Éireann 1991–2020 averages for the town’s own square kilometre.
A year in Portmagee at a glance
Each month’s typical high and low, in °C.
What stands out about Portmagee’s climate
Compared with Irish towns, with its place among towns of 2,500+ in County Kerry beside it.
What a year in Portmagee feels like
Typical highs and lows by season and by month, from Met Éireann’s 1991–2020 averages.
About 8 air frosts a year
Ground frosts, when the grass drops below 0°C, come on about 40 nights a year. Air frosts come mostly from December to March, most of all in January (about 2).
Air frosts by month
Average nights below 0°C
Ground frosts by month
Average nights with the grass below 0°C
Counted from Valentia’s daily readings, 1991–2020, 11 km north-east of Portmagee: Met Éireann publishes these for its stations only.
About 1,519 mm of rain a year
November is the wettest month and May the driest. 2nd wettest of 6 towns of 2,500+ in County Kerry. The wettest month brings about 2.1 times the rain of the driest. Valentia records 1 mm or more on about 205 days a year, and 10 mm on about 53.
Rain by month
Millimetres
Sunshine by month
Hours, at Valentia
Heating a home in Portmagee
84% of a year’s heating need falls between October and April. Months averaging under 10°C: December to March.
Degree days add up how far each day’s mean temperature falls below 15.5°C over a year.
Living with Portmagee’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 Valentia comes by 8 March and the first by 3 December: about 270 frost-free days in between.
Highs of 17–27°C with lows of 8°C or more: Jul, Aug and Sep.
Parks & trails →Averages smooth over storms, floods and heatwaves; Portmagee’s hazards page covers the risks.
Flood & hazards →Met Éireann’s nearest station: Valentia
Valentia is 11 km north-east of Portmagee, the nearest of the 25 synoptic stations where Met Éireann records the weather around the clock. The station stands 24 m above sea level; Portmagee’s centre, 15 m.
| Month | High | Low | Rain | Air frosts | Sun (hours) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 9.9°C | 5.0°C | 184 mm | 2.0 | 52 |
| February | 10.0°C | 4.9°C | 137 mm | 1.9 | 70 |
| March | 11.0°C | 5.3°C | 114 mm | 1.4 | 118 |
| April | 12.6°C | 6.4°C | 104 mm | 0.2 | 165 |
| May | 14.8°C | 8.6°C | 92 mm | 0.0 | 179 |
| June | 16.7°C | 10.8°C | 100 mm | 0.0 | 168 |
| July | 17.9°C | 12.7°C | 113 mm | 0.0 | 137 |
| August | 18.0°C | 12.5°C | 114 mm | 0.0 | 134 |
| September | 17.0°C | 11.2°C | 126 mm | 0.0 | 117 |
| October | 14.5°C | 9.1°C | 171 mm | 0.0 | 91 |
| November | 11.9°C | 6.9°C | 187 mm | 0.5 | 56 |
| December | 10.5°C | 5.7°C | 176 mm | 1.8 | 40 |
| Year | 13.7°C | 8.3°C | 1,617 mm | 8 | 1,327 |
The table is Valentia’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 Portmagee itself; the frosts, sunshine and degree days are this station’s.
How Portmagee 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
Portmagee’s 1991–2020 average is 0.2°C warmer than 1981–2010’s. The biggest change is in April (+0.4°C).
A year’s rain is 1,519 mm, up 7% from 1,426 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Portmagee | 18.1°C | 5.8°C | 1,519 mm |
| Cahirciveen 12 km | 18.2°C about the same | 5.2°C 0.6°C colder | 1,622 mm |
Portmagee 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 | 10.2°C | 5.8°C | 8.0°C | 161 mm |
| February | 10.3°C | 5.6°C | 8.0°C | 124 mm |
| March | 11.3°C | 6.1°C | 8.7°C | 107 mm |
| April | 13.0°C | 7.2°C | 10.1°C | 99 mm |
| May | 15.0°C | 9.3°C | 12.2°C | 86 mm |
| June | 16.8°C | 11.6°C | 14.2°C | 96 mm |
| July | 18.1°C | 13.2°C | 15.6°C | 111 mm |
| August | 18.3°C | 13.4°C | 15.8°C | 115 mm |
| September | 17.3°C | 12.4°C | 14.8°C | 123 mm |
| October | 14.7°C | 10.3°C | 12.5°C | 157 mm |
| November | 12.1°C | 8.0°C | 10.0°C | 176 mm |
| December | 10.8°C | 6.6°C | 8.7°C | 165 mm |
| Year | 14.0°C | 9.1°C | 11.6°C | 1,519 mm |
How much a month can swing
December swings the most: over 30 years its average ranged from 3.6°C (2010) to 10.0°C (2015). June is the most reliable, staying within 3.0°C.
Where Portmagee’s numbers come from
Averages over 30 years, not a forecast: the town’s own from Met Éireann’s grid, the frosts, sunshine 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 Portmagee’s population centre (0.2 km away).
- Weather station: the nearest of Met Éireann’s 25 synoptic stations, Valentia, 11 km north-east, from Met Éireann’s station list.
- Frosts, sunshine, degree days: Valentia’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: snow and wind. Met Éireann publishes neither on a grid; the frosts and sunshine 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 Portmagee’s climate
How warm does Portmagee get in summer?
The warmest month is August, when afternoons average 18.3°C.
How cold does Portmagee get in winter?
February nights average 5.6°C, the coldest of the year. At Valentia, the nearest Met Éireann station, the air drops below 0°C on about 8 nights a year (1991–2020).
How much rain does Portmagee get?
About 1,519 mm a year, more than almost every Irish town. November is the wettest month (176 mm) and May the driest (86 mm).
How sunny is it?
Valentia, 11 km north-east, averages about 1,327 hours of sunshine a year (1991–2020, from its daily record). Met Éireann publishes no sunshine figure for the town itself.
Are these figures for Portmagee itself?
Partly. The temperatures and rain are Met Éireann’s 1991–2020 averages on its 1 km grid, read at Portmagee’s population centre; the frosts, degree days and year-to-year swings are those of Valentia, 11 km north-east, 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 Portmagee’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 Portmagee →
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).