Summer afternoons in Lismore are warmer than in 91% of Irish towns
Deep winter brings January lows near 2.8°C. Rain is plentiful here, more than falls on 82% of Irish towns. February has warmed most since 1981–2010, part of a 0.3°C rise. Seedlings are safe outdoors from about 22 April, with the first autumn frost due around 29 October.
Met Éireann 1991–2020 averages for the town’s own square kilometre.
A year in Lismore at a glance
Each month’s typical high and low, in °C.
What stands out about Lismore’s climate
Compared with Irish towns, with its place among towns and neighbourhoods of 2,500+ in County Waterford beside it.
What a year in Lismore feels like
Typical highs and lows by season and by month, from Met Éireann’s 1991–2020 averages.
43 frosts and 3 days of 25°C 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
Counted from Moore Park’s daily readings, 2004–2020, 23 km west of Lismore: Met Éireann publishes these for its stations only.
About 1,147 mm of rain a year
December is the wettest month and May the driest. The wettest of 13 towns and neighbourhoods of 2,500+ in County Waterford. The wettest month brings about 1.6 times the rain of the driest. Moore Park records 1 mm or more on about 162 days a year, and 10 mm on about 31.
Rain by month
Millimetres
Heating a home in Lismore
85% 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 Lismore’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 Moore Park comes by 22 April and the first by 29 October: about 190 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; Lismore’s hazards page covers the risks.
Flood & hazards →Met Éireann’s nearest station: Moore Park
Moore Park is 23 km west of Lismore, the nearest of the 25 synoptic stations where Met Éireann records the weather around the clock. The station stands 46 m above sea level; Lismore’s centre, 41 m.
| Month | High | Low | Rain | Air frosts |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 9.0°C | 2.4°C | 111 mm | 8.8 |
| February | 9.1°C | 2.1°C | 77 mm | 8.7 |
| March | 10.7°C | 2.4°C | 78 mm | 7.6 |
| April | 13.3°C | 4.3°C | 67 mm | 2.8 |
| May | 15.9°C | 7.0°C | 61 mm | 0.3 |
| June | 18.6°C | 9.7°C | 76 mm | 0.0 |
| July | 19.8°C | 11.5°C | 77 mm | 0.0 |
| August | 19.2°C | 10.9°C | 90 mm | 0.0 |
| September | 17.5°C | 9.0°C | 77 mm | 0.1 |
| October | 14.4°C | 6.7°C | 107 mm | 1.1 |
| November | 10.9°C | 4.0°C | 107 mm | 5.3 |
| December | 9.3°C | 2.9°C | 113 mm | 8.3 |
| Year | 14.0°C | 6.1°C | 1,041 mm | 43 |
The table is Moore 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 Lismore itself; the frosts and degree days are this station’s.
How Lismore 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 and neighbourhoods of 2,500+ in County Waterford.
Warmer than it used to be
Lismore’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, 1,147 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.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lismore | 20.2°C | 2.8°C | 1,147 mm |
| Tallow 6.7 km | 20.3°C about the same | 3.0°C about the same | 1,080 mm |
Lismore 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 | 9.0°C | 2.8°C | 5.9°C | 118 mm |
| February | 9.5°C | 2.8°C | 6.2°C | 89 mm |
| March | 11.1°C | 3.6°C | 7.3°C | 86 mm |
| April | 13.5°C | 5.0°C | 9.2°C | 81 mm |
| May | 16.2°C | 7.5°C | 11.8°C | 76 mm |
| June | 18.7°C | 10.0°C | 14.3°C | 77 mm |
| July | 20.2°C | 12.0°C | 16.1°C | 77 mm |
| August | 20.0°C | 11.5°C | 15.8°C | 91 mm |
| September | 18.0°C | 9.8°C | 13.9°C | 82 mm |
| October | 14.6°C | 7.3°C | 10.9°C | 123 mm |
| November | 11.3°C | 4.7°C | 8.0°C | 122 mm |
| December | 9.4°C | 3.2°C | 6.3°C | 123 mm |
| Year | 14.3°C | 6.7°C | 10.5°C | 1,147 mm |
How much a month can swing
December swings the most: over 17 years its average ranged from 0.6°C (2010) to 9.0°C (2015). May is the most reliable, staying within 2.5°C.
Where Lismore’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 Lismore’s population centre (0.4 km away).
- Weather station: the nearest of Met Éireann’s 25 synoptic stations, Moore Park, 23 km west, from Met Éireann’s station list.
- Frosts and degree days: Moore 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 Lismore’s climate
How warm does Lismore get in summer?
July is the warmest month, with average highs of 20.2°C.
How cold does Lismore get in winter?
The coldest nights come in January, averaging 2.8°C. At Moore Park, the nearest Met Éireann station, the air drops below 0°C on about 43 nights a year (2004–2020).
How much rain does Lismore get?
About 1,147 mm a year, more than 82% of Irish towns. December is the wettest month (123 mm) and May the driest (76 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 Lismore itself. Its nearest synoptic station is Moore Park.
Are these figures for Lismore itself?
Partly. The temperatures and rain are Met Éireann’s 1991–2020 averages on its 1 km grid, read at Lismore’s population centre; the frosts, degree days and year-to-year swings are those of Moore Park, 23 km 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 Lismore’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 Lismore →
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).