Photo: A.-K. D. · CC0Few Irish towns have colder winter nights than Ballinakill
In July the day’s top temperature is typically 19.7°C. Summers stay cool: July afternoons here are cooler than in 67% of Irish towns. The latest 30-year average runs 0.2°C warmer than 1981–2010’s, with February up the most. The frost-free window for a garden runs roughly 18 April to 3 November.
Met Éireann 1991–2020 averages for the town’s own square kilometre.
A year in Ballinakill at a glance
Each month’s typical high and low, in °C.
What stands out about Ballinakill’s climate
Compared with Irish towns, with its place among towns of 2,500+ in County Laois beside it.
What a year in Ballinakill feels like
Typical highs and lows by season and by month, from Met Éireann’s 1991–2020 averages.
35 frosts and 4 days of 25°C a year
Ground frosts, when the grass drops below 0°C, come on about 105 nights a year. Air frosts come mostly from November 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 Oak Park’s daily readings, 2004–2020, 27 km east of Ballinakill: Met Éireann publishes these for its stations only. At that distance, read them as the area’s climate.
About 947 mm of rain a year
October is the wettest month and May the driest. The wettest of 4 towns of 2,500+ in County Laois. The wettest month brings about 1.6 times the rain of the driest. Oak Park records 1 mm or more on about 143 days a year, and 10 mm on about 24.
Rain by month
Millimetres
Heating a home in Ballinakill
86% of a year’s heating need falls between October and April. Months averaging under 10°C: October to April.
Degree days add up how far each day’s mean temperature falls below 15.5°C over a year.
Living with Ballinakill’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 Oak Park comes by 18 April and the first by 3 November: about 199 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; Ballinakill’s hazards page covers the risks.
Flood & hazards →Met Éireann’s nearest station: Oak Park
Oak Park is 27 km east of Ballinakill, the nearest of the 25 synoptic stations where Met Éireann records the weather around the clock. The station stands 62 m above sea level; Ballinakill’s centre, 139 m.
| Month | High | Low | Rain | Air frosts |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 8.3°C | 2.3°C | 79 mm | 7.0 |
| February | 8.6°C | 2.1°C | 65 mm | 7.7 |
| March | 10.5°C | 2.5°C | 64 mm | 6.2 |
| April | 13.3°C | 4.4°C | 48 mm | 1.5 |
| May | 16.1°C | 6.9°C | 49 mm | 0.3 |
| June | 18.8°C | 9.6°C | 63 mm | 0.0 |
| July | 20.4°C | 11.5°C | 70 mm | 0.0 |
| August | 19.7°C | 11.2°C | 83 mm | 0.0 |
| September | 17.8°C | 9.3°C | 66 mm | 0.1 |
| October | 14.3°C | 7.0°C | 94 mm | 0.6 |
| November | 10.4°C | 4.1°C | 92 mm | 4.4 |
| December | 8.5°C | 2.6°C | 93 mm | 7.6 |
| Year | 13.9°C | 6.1°C | 864 mm | 35 |
The table is Oak Park’s own record, averaged over 2004–2020 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 Ballinakill itself; the frosts and degree days are this station’s.
How Ballinakill 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 Laois.
Warmer than it used to be
Ballinakill’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 947 mm, up 2% from 928 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.
Ballinakill and its neighbours
Ballyragget has the warmest July afternoons (20.2°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.
| Town | July high | January low | Rain a year |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ballinakill | 19.7°C | 1.7°C | 947 mm |
| Abbeyleix 5.0 km | 19.9°C about the same | 1.9°C about the same | 914 mm |
| Ballyragget 9.9 km | 20.2°C 0.5°C warmer | 2.2°C 0.5°C milder | 917 mm |
| Castlecomer 11 km | 19.8°C about the same | 1.7°C about the same | 999 mm |
| Mountrath 18 km | 19.9°C about the same | 1.9°C about the same | 1,010 mm |
| Portlaoise 18 km | 20.0°C about the same | 2.0°C about the same | 938 mm |
| Stradbally 19 km | 20.1°C about the same | 2.0°C about the same | 915 mm |
Each town’s colour is Met Éireann’s 1 km grid at its own centre, so towns a few kilometres apart can differ.
Ballinakill 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 | 7.8°C | 1.7°C | 4.8°C | 89 mm |
| February | 8.5°C | 1.5°C | 5.0°C | 70 mm |
| March | 10.3°C | 2.5°C | 6.4°C | 64 mm |
| April | 12.9°C | 3.9°C | 8.4°C | 63 mm |
| May | 15.7°C | 6.4°C | 11.1°C | 62 mm |
| June | 18.3°C | 9.1°C | 13.7°C | 71 mm |
| July | 19.7°C | 11.0°C | 15.3°C | 73 mm |
| August | 19.4°C | 10.7°C | 15.0°C | 83 mm |
| September | 17.2°C | 8.8°C | 13.0°C | 78 mm |
| October | 13.6°C | 6.1°C | 9.9°C | 101 mm |
| November | 10.1°C | 3.4°C | 6.8°C | 99 mm |
| December | 8.1°C | 1.9°C | 5.0°C | 94 mm |
| Year | 13.5°C | 5.6°C | 9.5°C | 947 mm |
How much a month can swing
December swings the most: over 17 years its average ranged from −0.8°C (2010) to 8.6°C (2015). May is the most reliable, staying within 2.4°C.
Where Ballinakill’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 Ballinakill’s population centre (0.4 km away).
- Weather station: the nearest of Met Éireann’s 25 synoptic stations, Oak Park, 27 km east, from Met Éireann’s station list.
- Frosts and degree days: Oak Park’s daily readings from Met Éireann (clidata.met.ie), 2004–2020, 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 Ballinakill’s climate
How warm does Ballinakill get in summer?
July is the warmest month, with average highs of 19.7°C.
How cold does Ballinakill get in winter?
The coldest nights come in February, averaging 1.5°C. At Oak Park, the nearest Met Éireann station, the air drops below 0°C on about 35 nights a year (2004–2020).
How much rain does Ballinakill get?
About 947 mm a year, more than 51% of Irish towns. October is the wettest month (101 mm) and May the driest (62 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 Ballinakill itself. Its nearest synoptic station is Oak Park.
Are these figures for Ballinakill itself?
Partly. The temperatures and rain are Met Éireann’s 1991–2020 averages on its 1 km grid, read at Ballinakill’s population centre; the frosts, degree days and year-to-year swings are those of Oak Park, 27 km 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 Ballinakill’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 Ballinakill →
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).