County Down climate

Monthly averages for Downpatrick, 2021–2025 · Ulster

Down is on the east coast, one of the driest and sunniest counties in Ulster, with the Mourne Mountains catching heavy rain and snow in the south. The Ards peninsula and Strangford Lough are mild and breezy.

Rain: about 1071 mm falls in a year at Downpatrick, on roughly 168 days, making Down the 20th wettest of the 32 counties. October is the wettest month (135 mm) and January the driest (65 mm).

Temperature: August is the warmest month, with afternoons averaging 19°C, and January the coldest, with nights averaging 3°C. Frost is rare.

Sunshine: about 2679 hours a year, the 4th sunniest of the 32 counties. June is the sunniest month (11.2 hours a day) and December the dullest (3.0).

Compare Down with its neighbours →

Rainfall

Average total rainfall each month, in millimetres. 1071 mm a year.

Temperature

Bars run from the average night-time low to the average daytime high, in °C.

Sunshine

Hours of sunshine on an average day in each month. About 2679 hours a year.

Down and its neighbours
County	Rain mm/yr	Rain days	July high	January low	Sun h/yr
Down	1071	168	18°C	3°C	2679
Antrim	1047	175	19°C	2°C	2637
Armagh	1008	177	19°C	2°C	2433
Louth	1063	172	19°C	2°C	2524

Recent extremes, 2021–2025

Hottest day: 26.3°C on 17 July 2021
Coldest night: −2.8°C on 12 December 2022
Wettest day: 42.1 mm on 26 September 2024
Wettest month: October 2023, 174 mm
Driest month: February 2023, 17 mm

Ireland's all-time records are on the records page.

Downpatrick month by month
Month	High °C	Low °C	Rain mm	Rain days	Sun h/day	Wind km/h
January	7	3	65	12	4.1	18
February	9	4	76	13	4.6	20
March	10	5	79	14	6.7	17
April	11	5	78	13	9.4	15
May	15	8	78	15	10.9	13
June	17	11	81	14	11.2	14
July	18	12	93	15	10.1	13
August	19	12	82	13	10.1	14
September	16	11	106	14	8.0	15
October	14	10	135	15	5.4	18
November	11	6	93	14	4.4	18
December	9	5	105	14	3.0	19
Year	13	8	1071	168	2679 h	16

Figures are averages for 2021–2025 at each county town, from the ERA5 weather reanalysis via Open-Meteo. They describe typical lowland weather in each county; hills and exposed coasts are wetter and windier.