Climate averages 1991–2020
Cork weather
in May.
A cool, moderately wet month: the 5th warmest and the joint 5th driest of the year.
Long-term climate patterns, not a forecast for a particular trip.
May is a cool month in Cork: daytime highs average 14.7°C and nights cool to about 8.8°C. By daytime temperature it is the 5th warmest of the 12 months.
Expect about 67 mm of rain on roughly 13 days, which makes May a moderately wet month (the joint 5th driest of the 12 months). Daylight, from sunrise to sunset, lasts about 15 h 38 min on an average May day.
The nearest other city in this atlas is Limerick (86 km away). In May its highs average 15.2°C, 0.5°C warmer than Cork, with 77 mm of rain.
Among the 5 cities listed in Ireland, Cork ranks joint 3rd of 5 for the warmest May highs and 3rd of 5 for the driest May (rainfall, lowest first). The mean May high of those 5 cities is 14.7°C; Cork is 0.1°C cooler than that mean.
From May to June, average highs rise by 2.5°C to 17.2°C, and monthly rainfall falls from 67 mm to 64 mm.
The annual picture
May in context
Monthly rainfall
Average total · mmAverages from hourly ERA5 reanalysis data. Actual weather varies from year to year. How these numbers are calculated
Every month, side by side
Cork climate table
| Month | Average highHigh / low | Average low | Rainfall mm/month | Rain days ≥1 mm/day | Daylight hours/dayDaylight h/day |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 8.7°C4.7°C | 4.7°C | 79 | 13.0 | 8.38 h |
| February | 8.9°C4.4°C | 4.4°C | 65 | 11.2 | 9.910 h |
| March | 10.2°C5.0°C | 5.0°C | 62 | 11.8 | 11.812 h |
| April | 12.2°C6.3°C | 6.3°C | 68 | 12.6 | 13.914 h |
| May, selected | 14.7°C8.8°C | 8.8°C | 67 | 13.0 | 15.616 h |
| June | 17.2°C11.4°C | 11.4°C | 64 | 10.9 | 16.617 h |
| July | 18.7°C13.2°C | 13.2°C | 67 | 11.8 | 16.216 h |
| August | 18.5°C13.1°C | 13.1°C | 69 | 11.6 | 14.715 h |
| September | 16.7°C11.7°C | 11.7°C | 64 | 10.0 | 12.713 h |
| October | 13.7°C9.4°C | 9.4°C | 85 | 12.4 | 10.711 h |
| November | 10.8°C6.7°C | 6.7°C | 80 | 12.0 | 8.99 h |
| December | 9.1°C5.3°C | 5.3°C | 84 | 12.7 | 7.98 h |
Rainfall is the average of the 30 separate monthly totals. A rain day is a local calendar day with at least 1 mm of precipitation. Daylight is the calculated sunrise-to-sunset length, not measured sunshine.
Compare places
May in nearby cities
- Limerick in MayIreland · 86 kmHigh 15.2°C · Low 8.3°C · 77 mm rain
- Galway in MayIreland · 158 kmHigh 14.8°C · Low 8.2°C · 79 mm rain
- Tallaght in MayIreland · 209 kmHigh 14.4°C · Low 7.8°C · 66 mm rain
- Dublin in MayIreland · 219 kmHigh 14.7°C · Low 8.3°C · 66 mm rain
- Swansea in MayUnited Kingdom · 313 kmHigh 14.6°C · Low 8.8°C · 72 mm rain
- Lisburn in MayUnited Kingdom · 334 kmHigh 13.8°C · Low 7.7°C · 70 mm rain
- Belfast in MayUnited Kingdom · 345 kmHigh 13.6°C · Low 8.2°C · 70 mm rain
- Plymouth in MayUnited Kingdom · 346 kmHigh 15.0°C · Low 9.2°C · 61 mm rain
Read the numbers correctly
Climate, not a promise.
These patterns help compare months. They cannot tell you the weather on a specific day of your trip.
Sources, method and limitsHow these numbers are made (what the highs, lows and rain days mean, the sources and the model cell used for Cork) is explained once on the Cork year overview and on the Sources, method and limits page.