Birr has colder winter nights than 78% of Irish towns
On a normal July day the thermometer tops out near 19.9°C. April has warmed most since 1981–2010, part of a 0.2°C rise. Picnics, hikes and garden evenings come into their own from June to September, with highs of 18–20°C.
Met Éireann 1991–2020 averages for the town’s own square kilometre.
A year in Birr at a glance
Each month’s typical high and low, in °C.
What stands out about Birr’s climate
Compared with Irish towns, with its place among towns of 2,500+ in County Offaly beside it.
What a year in Birr feels like
Typical highs and lows by season and by month, from Met Éireann’s 1991–2020 averages.
41 frosts and 3 days of 25°C a year
Ground frosts, when the grass drops below 0°C, come on about 103 nights a year. Air frosts come mostly from October to April, most of all in March (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 Gurteen’s daily readings, 2008–2020, 9.5 km south-west of Birr: Met Éireann publishes these for its stations only.
About 885 mm of rain a year
November is the wettest month and April the driest. 4th wettest of 4 towns of 2,500+ in County Offaly. The wettest month brings about 1.6 times the rain of the driest. Gurteen records 1 mm or more on about 166 days a year, and 10 mm on about 23.
Rain by month
Millimetres
Heating a home in Birr
84% 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 Birr’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 Gurteen comes by 28 April and the first by 25 October: about 180 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; Birr’s hazards page covers the risks.
Flood & hazards →Met Éireann’s nearest station: Gurteen
Gurteen is 9.5 km south-west of Birr, the nearest of the 25 synoptic stations where Met Éireann records the weather around the clock. The station stands 75 m above sea level; Birr’s centre, 50 m.
| Month | High | Low | Rain | Air frosts |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 7.9°C | 2.0°C | 87 mm | 7.3 |
| February | 8.5°C | 1.9°C | 74 mm | 7.6 |
| March | 10.2°C | 1.9°C | 73 mm | 8.3 |
| April | 13.1°C | 3.7°C | 54 mm | 3.3 |
| May | 15.8°C | 6.4°C | 60 mm | 0.6 |
| June | 18.3°C | 9.0°C | 74 mm | 0.0 |
| July | 19.4°C | 11.1°C | 78 mm | 0.0 |
| August | 18.6°C | 10.7°C | 90 mm | 0.0 |
| September | 16.8°C | 8.8°C | 70 mm | 0.1 |
| October | 13.7°C | 6.4°C | 91 mm | 1.2 |
| November | 10.0°C | 3.6°C | 106 mm | 4.9 |
| December | 8.2°C | 2.2°C | 98 mm | 8.0 |
| Year | 13.4°C | 5.6°C | 954 mm | 41 |
The table is Gurteen’s own record, averaged over 2008–2020 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 Birr itself; the frosts and degree days are this station’s.
How Birr 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 Offaly.
Warmer than it used to be
Birr’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 885 mm, up 2% from 865 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.
Birr and its neighbours
Every town next door is within half a degree of Birr 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Birr | 19.9°C | 2.3°C | 885 mm |
| Banagher 12 km | 19.9°C about the same | 2.2°C about the same | 894 mm |
| Kilcormac 15 km | 20.0°C about the same | 2.1°C about the same | 885 mm |
| Roscrea 17 km | 19.8°C about the same | 2.0°C about the same | 997 mm |
| Borrisokane 18 km | 19.8°C about the same | 2.3°C about the same | 955 mm |
Each town’s colour is Met Éireann’s 1 km grid at its own centre, so towns a few kilometres apart can differ.
Birr 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 | 8.3°C | 2.3°C | 5.3°C | 84 mm |
| February | 8.9°C | 2.2°C | 5.5°C | 65 mm |
| March | 10.8°C | 3.1°C | 7.0°C | 64 mm |
| April | 13.4°C | 4.5°C | 9.0°C | 58 mm |
| May | 16.1°C | 6.9°C | 11.5°C | 58 mm |
| June | 18.6°C | 9.7°C | 14.2°C | 70 mm |
| July | 19.9°C | 11.6°C | 15.7°C | 70 mm |
| August | 19.5°C | 11.4°C | 15.4°C | 77 mm |
| September | 17.5°C | 9.4°C | 13.5°C | 67 mm |
| October | 14.0°C | 6.8°C | 10.4°C | 90 mm |
| November | 10.5°C | 4.2°C | 7.3°C | 91 mm |
| December | 8.5°C | 2.5°C | 5.5°C | 91 mm |
| Year | 13.8°C | 6.2°C | 10.0°C | 885 mm |
How much a month can swing
December swings the most: over 13 years its average ranged from −0.4°C (2010) to 8.3°C (2015). September is the most reliable, staying within 2.2°C.
Where Birr’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 Birr’s population centre (0.4 km away).
- Weather station: the nearest of Met Éireann’s 25 synoptic stations, Gurteen, 9.5 km south-west, from Met Éireann’s station list.
- Frosts and degree days: Gurteen’s daily readings from Met Éireann (clidata.met.ie), 2008–2020, 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 Birr’s climate
How warm does Birr get in summer?
The warmest month is July, when afternoons average 19.9°C.
How cold does Birr get in winter?
February nights average 2.2°C, the coldest of the year. At Gurteen, the nearest Met Éireann station, the air drops below 0°C on about 41 nights a year (2008–2020).
How much rain does Birr get?
About 885 mm a year, less than 57% of Irish towns. November is the wettest month (91 mm) and April the driest (58 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 Birr itself. Its nearest synoptic station is Gurteen.
Are these figures for Birr itself?
Partly. The temperatures and rain are Met Éireann’s 1991–2020 averages on its 1 km grid, read at Birr’s population centre; the frosts, degree days and year-to-year swings are those of Gurteen, 9.5 km south-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 Birr’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 Birr →
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).