Rhode has some of the coldest winter nights among Irish towns
Sunny July days climb to about 19.8°C. Warming shows here too: 0.3°C more than in 1981–2010, led by April. Wet days, with 1 mm of rain or more, come about 165 times a year.
Met Éireann 1991–2020 averages for the town’s own square kilometre.
A year in Rhode at a glance
Each month’s typical high and low, in °C.
What stands out about Rhode’s climate
Compared with Irish towns, with its place among towns of 2,500+ in County Offaly beside it.
What a year in Rhode feels like
Typical highs and lows by season and by month, from Met Éireann’s 1991–2020 averages.
43 frosts and 2 days of 25°C a year
Ground frosts, when the grass drops below 0°C, come on about 107 nights a year. Air frosts come mostly from October to April, most of all in January (about 9).
Air frosts by month
Average nights below 0°C
Ground frosts by month
Average nights with the grass below 0°C
Counted from Mullingar’s daily readings, 1991–2020, 23 km north-west of Rhode: Met Éireann publishes these for its stations only.
About 929 mm of rain a year
October is the wettest month and May the driest. The wettest of 5 towns of 2,500+ in County Offaly. The wettest month brings about 1.6 times the rain of the driest. Mullingar records 1 mm or more on about 165 days a year, and 10 mm on about 25.
Rain by month
Millimetres
Heating a home in Rhode
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 Rhode’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 Mullingar comes by 22 April and the first by 23 October: about 184 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; Rhode’s hazards page covers the risks.
Flood & hazards →Met Éireann’s nearest station: Mullingar
Mullingar is 23 km north-west of Rhode, the nearest of the 25 synoptic stations where Met Éireann records the weather around the clock. The station stands 101 m above sea level; Rhode’s centre, 91 m.
| Month | High | Low | Rain | Air frosts |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 7.6°C | 1.8°C | 91 mm | 8.7 |
| February | 8.3°C | 1.7°C | 77 mm | 8.7 |
| March | 10.1°C | 2.4°C | 69 mm | 7.2 |
| April | 12.6°C | 3.8°C | 70 mm | 3.0 |
| May | 15.3°C | 6.3°C | 66 mm | 0.4 |
| June | 17.8°C | 8.9°C | 75 mm | 0.0 |
| July | 19.2°C | 10.8°C | 80 mm | 0.0 |
| August | 18.9°C | 10.4°C | 85 mm | 0.0 |
| September | 16.9°C | 8.5°C | 76 mm | 0.1 |
| October | 13.4°C | 6.0°C | 99 mm | 1.8 |
| November | 10.0°C | 3.5°C | 99 mm | 5.2 |
| December | 7.8°C | 2.0°C | 100 mm | 8.2 |
| Year | 13.2°C | 5.5°C | 986 mm | 43 |
The table is Mullingar’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 Rhode itself; the frosts and degree days are this station’s.
How Rhode 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
Rhode’s 1991–2020 average is 0.3°C warmer than 1981–2010’s. The biggest change is in February (+0.4°C).
A year’s rain is 929 mm, up 3% from 905 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.
Rhode and its neighbours
Every town next door is within half a degree of Rhode 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rhode | 19.8°C | 1.8°C | 929 mm |
| Daingean 8.4 km | 19.9°C about the same | 1.9°C about the same | 928 mm |
| Edenderry 9.5 km | 20.0°C about the same | 2.0°C about the same | 902 mm |
| Rochfortbridge 9.6 km | 19.9°C about the same | 1.9°C about the same | 960 mm |
| Kinnegad 13 km | 19.9°C about the same | 1.9°C about the same | 918 mm |
| Derrinturn 18 km | 19.9°C about the same | 1.9°C about the same | 892 mm |
| Killucan-Rathwire 18 km | 19.8°C about the same | 1.8°C about the same | 964 mm |
Each town’s colour is Met Éireann’s 1 km grid at its own centre, so towns a few kilometres apart can differ.
Rhode 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 | 1.8°C | 4.8°C | 85 mm |
| February | 8.5°C | 1.7°C | 5.1°C | 70 mm |
| March | 10.4°C | 2.6°C | 6.5°C | 64 mm |
| April | 13.0°C | 4.1°C | 8.6°C | 63 mm |
| May | 15.8°C | 6.6°C | 11.2°C | 60 mm |
| June | 18.4°C | 9.3°C | 13.9°C | 72 mm |
| July | 19.8°C | 11.2°C | 15.5°C | 79 mm |
| August | 19.5°C | 10.9°C | 15.2°C | 83 mm |
| September | 17.3°C | 8.9°C | 13.1°C | 73 mm |
| October | 13.7°C | 6.3°C | 10.0°C | 95 mm |
| November | 10.2°C | 3.6°C | 6.9°C | 94 mm |
| December | 8.1°C | 2.0°C | 5.1°C | 92 mm |
| Year | 13.6°C | 5.8°C | 9.7°C | 929 mm |
How much a month can swing
December swings the most: over 30 years its average ranged from −1.1°C (2010) to 7.4°C (2015). September is the most reliable, staying within 3.6°C.
Where Rhode’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 Rhode’s population centre (0.4 km away).
- Weather station: the nearest of Met Éireann’s 25 synoptic stations, Mullingar, 23 km north-west, from Met Éireann’s station list.
- Frosts and degree days: Mullingar’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 Rhode’s climate
How warm does Rhode get in summer?
July is the warmest month, with average highs of 19.8°C.
How cold does Rhode get in winter?
The coldest nights come in February, averaging 1.7°C. At Mullingar, the nearest Met Éireann station, the air drops below 0°C on about 43 nights a year (1991–2020).
How much rain does Rhode get?
About 929 mm a year, less than 51% of Irish towns. October is the wettest month (95 mm) and May the driest (60 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 Rhode itself. Its nearest synoptic station is Mullingar.
Are these figures for Rhode itself?
Partly. The temperatures and rain are Met Éireann’s 1991–2020 averages on its 1 km grid, read at Rhode’s population centre; the frosts, degree days and year-to-year swings are those of Mullingar, 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 Rhode’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 Rhode →
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).