Ballincar sits near the bottom of Irish towns for July heat
On a normal January night the air cools to about 2.9°C. A year here swings 16°C from midwinter lows to midsummer highs. Its yearly rainfall tops that of 88% of Irish towns. Warm coats and heating bills mark the months from November to April, when means dip under 10°C.
Met Éireann 1991–2020 averages for the town’s own square kilometre.
A year in Ballincar at a glance
Each month’s typical high and low, in °C.
What stands out about Ballincar’s climate
Compared with Irish towns, with its place among towns of 2,500+ in County Sligo beside it.
What a year in Ballincar feels like
Typical highs and lows by season and by month, from Met Éireann’s 1991–2020 averages.
52 frosts and 2 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 October to May, most of all in February (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 Markree’s daily readings, 2005–2020, 15 km south of Ballincar: Met Éireann publishes these for its stations only.
About 1,231 mm of rain a year
December is the wettest month and April the driest. The wettest month brings about 1.8 times the rain of the driest. Markree records 1 mm or more on about 200 days a year, and 10 mm on about 35.
Rain by month
Millimetres
Heating a home in Ballincar
82% 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 Ballincar’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 Markree comes by 10 May and the first by 15 October: about 158 frost-free days in between.
Highs of 17–27°C with lows of 8°C or more: Jun, Jul and Aug.
Parks & trails →Averages smooth over storms, floods and heatwaves; Ballincar’s hazards page covers the risks.
Flood & hazards →Met Éireann’s nearest station: Markree
Markree is 15 km south of Ballincar, the nearest of the 25 synoptic stations where Met Éireann records the weather around the clock. The station stands 34 m above sea level; Ballincar’s centre, 27 m.
| Month | High | Low | Rain | Air frosts |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 7.9°C | 1.9°C | 129 mm | 9.1 |
| February | 8.5°C | 1.7°C | 99 mm | 9.3 |
| March | 10.0°C | 1.9°C | 89 mm | 9.2 |
| April | 12.8°C | 3.6°C | 62 mm | 5.1 |
| May | 15.3°C | 6.3°C | 82 mm | 1.5 |
| June | 17.5°C | 8.9°C | 80 mm | 0.0 |
| July | 18.5°C | 10.6°C | 99 mm | 0.0 |
| August | 17.9°C | 10.5°C | 117 mm | 0.0 |
| September | 16.5°C | 8.5°C | 92 mm | 0.4 |
| October | 13.8°C | 6.1°C | 108 mm | 2.4 |
| November | 10.1°C | 3.4°C | 137 mm | 6.1 |
| December | 8.2°C | 2.1°C | 139 mm | 8.8 |
| Year | 13.1°C | 5.5°C | 1,232 mm | 52 |
The table is Markree’s own record, averaged over 2005–2020 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 Ballincar itself; the frosts and degree days are this station’s.
How Ballincar 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 Sligo.
Warmer than it used to be
Ballincar’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, 1,231 mm, is about the same as before.
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.
Ballincar and its neighbours
Collooney has the coldest January nights next door (2.2°C, 0.7°C colder). 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ballincar | 18.4°C | 2.9°C | 1,231 mm |
| Sligo 4.6 km | 18.7°C about the same | 2.8°C about the same | 1,231 mm |
| Strandhill 6.6 km | 18.6°C about the same | 3.0°C about the same | 1,130 mm |
| Ballysadare 10 km | 18.7°C about the same | 2.5°C about the same | 1,256 mm |
| Collooney 14 km | 18.6°C about the same | 2.2°C 0.7°C colder | 1,295 mm |
| Coolaney 16 km | 18.4°C about the same | 2.2°C 0.7°C colder | 1,466 mm |
Each town’s colour is Met Éireann’s 1 km grid at its own centre, so towns a few kilometres apart can differ.
Ballincar 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 | 8.2°C | 2.9°C | 5.5°C | 120 mm |
| February | 8.7°C | 2.8°C | 5.8°C | 96 mm |
| March | 10.1°C | 3.6°C | 6.8°C | 88 mm |
| April | 12.5°C | 5.1°C | 8.8°C | 74 mm |
| May | 15.1°C | 7.4°C | 11.2°C | 79 mm |
| June | 17.2°C | 9.9°C | 13.5°C | 83 mm |
| July | 18.4°C | 11.7°C | 15.0°C | 103 mm |
| August | 18.2°C | 11.6°C | 14.9°C | 108 mm |
| September | 16.6°C | 10.0°C | 13.3°C | 99 mm |
| October | 13.5°C | 7.5°C | 10.5°C | 117 mm |
| November | 10.5°C | 5.0°C | 7.8°C | 132 mm |
| December | 8.5°C | 3.2°C | 5.9°C | 133 mm |
| Year | 13.1°C | 6.7°C | 9.9°C | 1,231 mm |
How much a month can swing
December swings the most: over 16 years its average ranged from −1.2°C (2010) to 7.2°C (2018). August is the most reliable, staying within 2.8°C.
Where Ballincar’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 Ballincar’s population centre (0.6 km away).
- Weather station: the nearest of Met Éireann’s 25 synoptic stations, Markree, 15 km south, from Met Éireann’s station list.
- Frosts and degree days: Markree’s daily readings from Met Éireann (clidata.met.ie), 2005–2020, 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 Ballincar’s climate
How warm does Ballincar get in summer?
July is the warmest month, with average highs of 18.4°C.
How cold does Ballincar get in winter?
The coldest nights come in February, averaging 2.8°C. At Markree, the nearest Met Éireann station, the air drops below 0°C on about 52 nights a year (2005–2020).
How much rain does Ballincar get?
About 1,231 mm a year, more than 88% of Irish towns. December is the wettest month (133 mm) and April the driest (74 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 Ballincar itself. Its nearest synoptic station is Markree.
Are these figures for Ballincar itself?
Partly. The temperatures and rain are Met Éireann’s 1991–2020 averages on its 1 km grid, read at Ballincar’s population centre; the frosts, degree days and year-to-year swings are those of Markree, 15 km south, 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 Ballincar’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 Ballincar →
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).