Climate and average weather in Killarney

In Killarney, the summers are mild, showery, and mostly cloudy and the winters are cold and mostly cloudy.

Best: early June to late September

Over the course of the year, the temperature in Killarney typically varies from 2°C to 18°C, and is rarely below -2°C or above 22°C. July is the hottest month of the year, while January is the coldest.

Based on the travel score, the best time of year to visit Killarney for warm-weather activities is from early June to late September.

Hottest
Jul
18°
Coldest
Jan
Wettest
Dec
125 mm
Driest
Sep
83 mm
Rain / yr
1220 mm
179 wet days
Daylight
7.5–16.5 h
shortest–longest
Elevation
0 m
52.1°N
Clearest
Apr
76% cloud

Killarney is town in County Kerry, Ireland.

Air quality: WHO Ambient Air Quality Database. Density & description: Wikidata (CC0), GeoNames.

Killarney weather by month, at a glance

The whole year in one picture — sky, rain, humidity, temperature and travel score. Click any band to jump to its full chart.

Each stripe is one measure across the whole year, stacked so a single day reads top to bottom. The sky band runs overcast grey on top down to clear blue at the base — more blue means sunnier — followed by the rainfall curve, the humidity band, a temperature strip that tints each stretch of the year by how warm its average high is, and the travel-score line at the foot. Scan straight down any date to read that day across every measure at once; the score climbs highest around early June to late September.

Temperature through the year

Average highAverage lowShaded bands: 10–90% of days

Daily average highs and lows in Killarney, from 1991–2020 of climate data. The shaded bands show the range most days fall in — 10th to 90th percentile.

The hot season lasts 3.8 months, from May 30 to September 22, with daily high temperatures above 15°C. The hottest month of the year in Killarney is July, with an average high of 18°C and low of 11°C.

The cool season lasts 4.0 months, from November 17 to March 17, with daily high temperatures below 10°C. The coldest month of the year in Killarney is January, with an average low of 3°C and high of 8°C.

Days typically run about 6°C warmer than nights year-round.

-5°10°15°20°25°JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Avg high (°C)Avg low (°C)
Jan83
Feb82
Mar103
Apr124
May147
Jun169
Jul1811
Aug1711
Sep169
Oct137
Nov105
Dec83

How hot and cold Killarney really feels

Feels-like highFeels-like lowactual air temp

The felt-temperature range through the year — heat index on the day's high (summer humidity), wind chill on the night's low (winter wind). The dashed lines are the plain thermometer; the gap is how much hotter or colder it really feels.

On the coldest nights, wind chill pulls the feels-like down to about -2°C (around February 28), with roughly 109 freezing days a year (feels-like at or below 0°C), worst in February.

-5°10°15°20°JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Feels-like high (°C)Air high (°C)Feels-like low (°C)Air low (°C)
Jan88-13
Feb88-12
Mar910-13
Apr121214
May141447
Jun161689
Jul18181111
Aug17171111
Sep161689
Oct131357
Nov101025
Dec8803

Average hourly temperature in Killarney

A compact picture of the whole year, hour by hour: each column is a day, each row an hour, and the color is the modeled average temperature. Darker overlays mark night, lighter ones the civil-twilight hours around sunrise and sunset.

Read left to right for the day of the year and top to bottom for the hour of the day; the color is the modeled temperature, cool blues through to hot reds on the same scale as the other charts. A vertical slice is a single day's swing — coolest just before dawn, warmest in the mid-afternoon — while a horizontal slice follows one hour across the seasons. The darker overlay marks night and the lighter one the twilight around sunrise and sunset. Colors run warmest on July afternoons, near 18°C, and coldest before dawn in January, near C.

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec12 AM2 AM4 AM6 AM8 AM10 AM12 PM2 PM4 PM6 PM8 PM10 PM12 AM

Killarney weather by month

Every month at a glance. Click a month for its detailed page.

MonthHigh / Low (°C)Rainfall (mm)Wet daysSnow daysDaylight (hours)Travel score
Jan / 11916.90.681.0
Feb / 10014.30.69.61.2
Mar10° / 9114.40.511.51.8
Apr12° / 93140.213.62.6
May14° / 9915.8015.43.4
Jun16° / 9014.3016.44.3
Jul18° / 11°9514.40164.9
Aug17° / 11°9915014.44.7
Sep16° / 8312.6012.44.3
Oct13° / 11515.3010.43.1
Nov10° / 11215.30.18.51.8
Dec / 12516.50.57.61.1

Chance of rain

How likely it is to rain on a typical day, and how that shifts across the wetter and drier seasons.

Killarney gets about 1220 mm of precipitation a year. On a typical day the chance of rain is very wet, but that rises and falls sharply with the seasons.

The wetter season lasts 4.6 months, from around Oct 19 to Mar 8, peaking in January at about 57% chance on a given day. The drier stretch runs the rest of the year, bottoming out around Sep 4.

December is the wettest month by volume, with 125 mm over about 17 wet days; September is the driest, with 83 mm.

0%10%20%30%40%50%60%70%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecwetterdrierwettermostly drysome rainoften wetvery wetJan 14 · 57%Sep 4 · 39%
Rain on a day (%)Rain days
Jan5517
Feb5114
Mar4614
Apr4614
May5216
Jun4814
Jul4614
Aug4815
Sep4213
Oct4915
Nov5215
Dec5317

Monthly rainfall

Over a full year, Killarney collects about 1220 mm of rain across 179 wet days — roughly 102 mm in an average month.

It doesn’t fall evenly. December is the wettest month with 125 mm, while September is the driest at just 83 mm. The three wettest months alone bring about 29% of the year’s total, and some of the cold-season precipitation falls as snow.

0255075100125150JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec11910091939990959983115112125
Rainfall (mm)Rain daysSnow days
Jan119171
Feb100141
Mar91141
Apr93140
May99160
Jun90140
Jul95140
Aug99150
Sep83130
Oct115150
Nov112150
Dec125171

Clouds and sunshine

ClearMostly clearPartly cloudyMostly cloudyOvercast

How often the daytime sky is clear, partly cloudy or overcast.

In Killarney, the average share of the sky covered by clouds shows mild seasonal variation over the course of the year.

The clearer part of the year begins around March 20 and lasts for 1.4 months, ending around April 30. The clearest month is April, when the sky is clear, mostly clear, or partly cloudy 22% of the time on average.

The cloudier part of the year begins around June 7 and lasts for 3.1 months, ending around September 8. The cloudiest month is July, when it is overcast or mostly cloudy 87% of the time.

0%100%10%90%20%80%30%70%40%60%50%50%60%40%70%30%80%20%90%10%100%0%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecApr 9 · 25%Jul 1 · 12%partly cloudymostly cloudyovercastcloudierclearercloudier
Clearer (%)Cloudier (%)
Jan2080
Feb1981
Mar2080
Apr2278
May1882
Jun1684
Jul1387
Aug1486
Sep1882
Oct1981
Nov2179
Dec2080

Daylight, sunrise and sunset

DaylightNight

Hours of daylight through the year, with sunrise and sunset times.

The gold band is daylight — sunrise runs along its lower edge, sunset along the upper — so it widens toward summer and pinches toward winter, with night the dark area above and below. The longest day, around June 15, brings about 16 h 30 min of light; the shortest, around December 14, only 7 h 30 min — a swing of roughly 9 hours.

12 AM4 AM8 AM12 PM4 PM8 PM12 AMJanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Daylight (h)Sunrise (AM)Sunset (PM)
Jan8.08:474:47
Feb9.68:055:40
Mar11.57:036:33
Apr13.65:507:27
May15.44:518:17
Jun16.44:248:52
Jul16.04:428:45
Aug14.45:287:56
Sep12.46:206:44
Oct10.47:135:33
Nov8.58:094:38
Dec7.68:484:20

Sunny days

How many genuinely sunny days each month brings — days the sky stays clear or mostly clear — banded into plain-language zones.

Killarney gets about 2 sunny days a month gloomy — and it barely shifts through the year, holding between 1 and 4 days every month. Clear skies here are a flat line, not a season.

0510JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecgloomymixedApr 94 daysJul 281 days
Sunny daysSky
Jan2Gloomy
Feb2Gloomy
Mar3Gloomy
Apr3Gloomy
May2Gloomy
Jun2Gloomy
Jul1Gloomy
Aug1Gloomy
Sep2Gloomy
Oct2Gloomy
Nov3Gloomy
Dec2Gloomy

Humidity comfort

DryComfortableHumidMuggyOppressiveMiserable

Share of days at each humidity comfort level, based on the dew point — the measure that tracks how muggy it actually feels.

Humidity comfort is graded by the dew point — the temperature at which the air would be fully saturated — because it tracks how muggy it actually feels far better than relative humidity does. A low dew point feels dry and crisp; a high one feels sticky and oppressive no matter the reading on a humidity gauge.

In Killarney, the air stays dry or comfortable essentially all year. Even in August, the muggiest month, it feels humid or worse only about 3% of the time — humidity is not something you need to plan around here.

0%10%20%30%40%50%60%70%80%90%100%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDeccomfortabledry
Dry (%)Comfortable (%)Humid (%)
Jan10000
Feb10000
Mar10000
Apr10000
May9910
Jun9190
Jul72262
Aug68283
Sep83161
Oct9460
Nov9910
Dec10000

Wind

Average wind speed through the year, banded into plain-language speed zones so a number reads as 'breezy' or 'calm' without knowing the scale.

This is the average sustained wind speed at the standard 10 metres above open ground — the steady flow a weather station reports, not the sharper gusts that come and go, which can run half again as fast. It's the number that says whether a place is generally breezy or calm.

Across the year, average wind speed in Killarney is typically light breeze, near 13 km/h, and varies little with the seasons.

The windier part of the year lasts 5.4 months, from around Oct 19 to Mar 30. The windiest month is January, averaging about 15 km/h (light breeze).

The calmer part of the year runs from around Mar 31 to Oct 18, with July the calmest month at about 12 km/h.

05101520JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecwindiercalmerwindiercalmlight breezeJan 7 · 15 km/hJul 18 · 12 km/h
Wind speed (km/h)Feels
Jan15light breeze
Feb15light breeze
Mar14light breeze
Apr13light breeze
May13light breeze
Jun13light breeze
Jul12light breeze
Aug12light breeze
Sep13light breeze
Oct13light breeze
Nov14light breeze
Dec15light breeze

Best time to visit Killarney

TravelBeach/poolTemperatureCloudsPrecipitation

To characterize how pleasant the weather is in Killarney throughout the year, we compute two travel scores — one for general sightseeing, one for beach and pool weather.

Around mid September, Killarney is still near the tail of its best-weather window — great conditions with the peak-season crowds already thinning.

Inferred from the travel-score curve; month-by-month visitor numbers are a planned addition.

The travel score favors clear, rainless days with daytime highs between 18°C and 28°C. Based on this score, the best time of year to visit Killarney for general outdoor tourist activities is from early June to late September, with a peak score in the third week of July.

0246810JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecbest timetravel scoretemperaturecloudsprecipitationJul 17 · 5.0

The travel score (filled area), and its constituents: the temperature score (red line), the cloud cover score (blue line), and the precipitation score (green line).

Travel score (0–10)Rating
Jan1.0poor
Feb1.2poor
Mar1.8poor
Apr2.6poor
May3.4poor
Jun4.3fair
Jul4.9fair
Aug4.7fair
Sep4.3fair
Oct3.1poor
Nov1.8poor
Dec1.1poor

The beach/pool score favors clear, rainless days with daytime highs between 24°C and 34°C. Based on this score, the best time of year to visit Killarney for hot-weather activities is from early July to late August, with a peak score in the third week of July.

024681012JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecbest timetemperaturecloudsprecipitationJul 21 · 1.6

The beach/pool score (filled area), and its constituents: the temperature score (red line), the cloud cover score (blue line), and the precipitation score (green line).

What to pack for Killarney, by month

EssentialRecommendedOptional

Month by month, what's worth putting in the bag — from the temperature range, rain chance, sun and wind. Tap a month for a quick packing note.

For a warm-season trip around July (highs near 18°C), the essentials are rain gear and sun protection. In the cold season around January (highs near 8°C), pack a warm layer, a heavy coat and rain gear.

Light clothing
Warm layer
Winter coat
Rain gear
Sun protection
Windbreaker

In July, Killarney sees daytime highs around 18°C and nights near 11°C. Pack rain gear. Worth having: sun protection. About 14 days see rain.

Sea temperature near Killarney

Average ocean temperature at the nearest coast, month by month, banded into swim-comfort zones — the other half of the beach question.

The sea at the nearest coast (about 55 km away) is warmest in August at about 16°C and coldest in March near 9°C.

The water stays below 20°C all year — cool enough that most swimmers want a wetsuit.

10°15°JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecbracingcool
Sea temperature (°C)Comfort
Jan10Bracing
Feb10Bracing
Mar9Bracing
Apr10Bracing
May12Bracing
Jun14Bracing
Jul15Cool
Aug16Cool
Sep15Cool
Oct14Bracing
Nov12Bracing
Dec11Bracing

UV index (midday) in Killarney by month

LowModerateHighVery highExtreme

Clear-sky midday UV index through the year, shaded by the WHO exposure levels — how much sun protection each month calls for.

Under clear skies, the midday UV index in Killarney peaks around August 13 at about 6 (high) — a little sun protection helps at midday. It bottoms out near January 1 at about 1 (low).

The index reaches 3 or more — the level where the WHO recommends sun protection — in 6 months of the year.

025710JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecLowModerateHighModerateLowAug 13UV 6Jan 1UV 1
UV index (midday)Level
Jan1Low
Feb1Low
Mar3Moderate
Apr4Moderate
May5High
Jun6High
Jul5High
Aug6High
Sep4Moderate
Oct2Moderate
Nov1Low
Dec1Low

Average hourly UV index in Killarney

LowModerateHighVery highExtreme

Modeled clear-sky UV for every hour of every day — when in the day sun protection actually matters.

The whole year hour by hour: each column is a day, each row an hour, and the color is the modeled clear-sky UV index — the midday peak scaled down as the sun sits lower in the sky. Darker overlays mark night, lighter ones the civil-twilight hours around sunrise and sunset.

UV falls off far faster than brightness as the sun drops, so even in August the burn window is concentrated in the middle of the day: about 6.5 hours a day reach index 3 (protection recommended). Mornings and late afternoons stay comparatively gentle year round.

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec12 AM2 AM4 AM6 AM8 AM10 AM12 PM2 PM4 PM6 PM8 PM10 PM12 AM
UV ≥ 3 (h/day)UV ≥ 6 (h/day)
Jan00
Feb00
Mar00
Apr4.50
May6.50
Jun70
Jul70
Aug6.50
Sep4.50
Oct00
Nov00
Dec00
Almanac & agriculture

Growing season

Chance of a frost-free dayReliably frost-free (≥90%)

Killarney is mild enough that a frost-free day stays more likely than not even in midwinter. Nights are reliably above freezing from about April 7 to November 18 (226 days); outside that window a hard frost is an occasional risk.

0%25%50%75%100%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecreliably frost-freeApr 790%Nov 1890%
Frost-free chance (%)Frost nights
Jan7931
Feb7828
Mar8425
Apr9410
May990
Jun1000
Jul1000
Aug1000
Sep1000
Oct990
Nov9211
Dec8231

Growing degree days

Degree days (base 10°C)Frost-free shaded

Growing degree days tally heat above 10°C: each day adds however many degrees its average temperature runs over that threshold, and cold days add nothing. Killarney banks about 453 degree days a year, and the running total — which growers use to time plantings and predict maturity — climbs fastest around July.

0200400600JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Growing degree days (°C·days)
Jan0
Feb0
Mar0
Apr0
May17
Jun82
Jul133
Aug130
Sep77
Oct13
Nov0
Dec0

Solar energy

Average daily shortwave solar energy reaching the ground, banded into brightness zones so the number means something at a glance.

Solar energy is how much sunlight actually reaches the ground each day, measured in kilowatt-hours per square metre (kWh/m²) — the combined effect of how long the sun is up, how high it climbs, and how much cloud gets in the way. It's the raw fuel a solar panel has to work with: for scale, 1 kWh/m² a day is dim and wintry, while 7+ is desert-bright.

Killarney receives about 2.8 kWh/m² a day of solar energy on average — moderate — with a clear seasonal swing between 0.6 and 5.2 kWh/m².

The brighter stretch of the year lasts 5.9 months, from around Mar 21 to Sep 17. The brightest month is June, averaging about 5.2 kWh/m² (bright).

The dimmest month is December, down near 0.6 kWh/m² — roughly 88% less than the June peak.

0123456JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecdimmerbrighterdimmerdimmoderatebrightJun 75.2 kWhDec 200.6 kWh
Solar energy (kWh/m²)Level
Jan0.8Dim
Feb1.5Dim
Mar2.7Moderate
Apr4.2Bright
May5.0Bright
Jun5.2Bright
Jul4.7Bright
Aug4.0Moderate
Sep2.9Moderate
Oct1.7Dim
Nov0.9Dim
Dec0.6Dim

Where is Killarney?

Killarney sits at 52.1°N, 9.5°W, 0 m above sea level, in Ireland. The nearest listed city is Tralee, 27 km away.

TraleeDingleBallincolligCorkDouglasCarrigalineLimerickEnnis

Topography around Killarney

How much the land rises and falls, and what covers it, within 3, 16 and 80 km of Killarney.

Within 3 km, the terrain around Killarney has only modest variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 156 m around an average of 50 m above sea level; within 16 km, large variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 963 m; within 80 km, large variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 1,051 m.

The land around Killarney is covered by grassland (48%) and trees (29%) within 3 km, grassland (77%) within 16 km, and grassland (54%) and water (36%) within 80 km.

3 km
156 m
16 km
963 m
80 km
1,051 m
treesgrasslandcroplandartificial surfaceswater
Nearby: Tralee 27 km · Dingle 53 km · Ballincollig 66 km · Cork 73 km · Douglas 76 km · Carrigaline 81 km · Limerick 90 km · Ennis 94 km

Ireland travel facts

Travel advisory
Level 1
Exercise Normal Precautions
Power plugs
Type G
230 V · 50 Hz
Prices
≈ 85% of US
price level, 2025
GDP per capita
$131,592
2025
Happiness
6.9 / 10
World Happiness, 2025
Safe drinking water
96%
of population, 2024
Homicide rate
0.7
per 100k, 2023
Road deaths
3.1
per 100k/yr, 2019
Income group
High
World Bank
Religion
Roman Catholic 69%none 15%Protestant 4%Orthodox 2%

Sources: World Bank, US State Department, World Happiness Report, WHO/UNICEF, EF EPI, CIA World Factbook.

Data sources

Temperature, precipitation, cloud, humidity, wind and solar figures are a 1991–2020 climatology for Killarney (52.0598°, -9.5086°, elevation 0 m), computed from hourly ERA5 reanalysis — contains modified Copernicus Climate Change Service information. Sun figures are astronomical calculations, not observations. City data © GeoNames, CC BY 4.0. Map outlines from Natural Earth (public domain); interactive map © Google. Sea temperatures are the NOAA OISST v2.1 1991–2020 monthly climatology (public domain), sampled at the nearest ocean point. UV index is derived from CAMS (Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service) clear-sky UV data — contains modified Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service information. Topography is sampled from the Copernicus DEM GLO-90 elevation model (© ESA/Airbus) and ESA WorldCover 2021 land cover (CC BY 4.0).