Climate averages 1991–2020
Galway weather
in May.
A cool, moderately wet month: the 5th warmest and the joint 4th driest of the year.
Long-term climate patterns, not a forecast for a particular trip.
May is a cool month in Galway: daytime highs average 14.8°C and nights cool to about 8.2°C. By daytime temperature it is the 5th warmest of the 12 months.
Expect about 79 mm of rain on roughly 14 days, which makes May a moderately wet month (the joint 4th driest of the 12 months). Daylight, from sunrise to sunset, lasts about 15 h 50 min on an average May day.
The nearest other city in this atlas is Limerick (73 km away). In May its highs average 15.2°C, about as warm as Galway, with 77 mm of rain.
Among the 5 cities listed in Ireland, Galway ranks 2nd of 5 for the warmest May highs and 5th of 5 for the driest May (rainfall, lowest first). The mean May high of those 5 cities is 14.7°C; Galway is 0.1°C warmer than that mean.
From May to June, average highs rise by 2.1°C to 16.9°C, and monthly rainfall stays at 79 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
Galway climate table
| Month | Average highHigh / low | Average low | Rainfall mm/month | Rain days ≥1 mm/day | Daylight hours/dayDaylight h/day |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 8.0°C3.8°C | 3.8°C | 99 | 15.4 | 8.18 h |
| February | 8.5°C3.5°C | 3.5°C | 85 | 13.0 | 9.810 h |
| March | 9.9°C4.1°C | 4.1°C | 78 | 13.3 | 11.812 h |
| April | 12.2°C5.5°C | 5.5°C | 76 | 13.7 | 13.914 h |
| May, selected | 14.8°C8.2°C | 8.2°C | 79 | 13.5 | 15.816 h |
| June | 16.9°C10.6°C | 10.6°C | 79 | 12.9 | 16.917 h |
| July | 18.0°C12.3°C | 12.3°C | 83 | 14.5 | 16.416 h |
| August | 17.8°C12.2°C | 12.2°C | 91 | 14.0 | 14.815 h |
| September | 16.2°C10.8°C | 10.8°C | 75 | 12.3 | 12.713 h |
| October | 13.1°C8.3°C | 8.3°C | 95 | 14.0 | 10.611 h |
| November | 10.2°C5.8°C | 5.8°C | 101 | 14.3 | 8.79 h |
| December | 8.3°C4.1°C | 4.1°C | 104 | 15.2 | 7.68 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 · 73 kmHigh 15.2°C · Low 8.3°C · 77 mm rain
- Cork in MayIreland · 158 kmHigh 14.7°C · Low 8.8°C · 67 mm rain
- Tallaght in MayIreland · 178 kmHigh 14.4°C · Low 7.8°C · 66 mm rain
- Dublin in MayIreland · 186 kmHigh 14.7°C · Low 8.3°C · 66 mm rain
- Derry in MayUnited Kingdom · 223 kmHigh 13.8°C · Low 7.6°C · 78 mm rain
- Lisburn in MayUnited Kingdom · 242 kmHigh 13.8°C · Low 7.7°C · 70 mm rain
- Belfast in MayUnited Kingdom · 252 kmHigh 13.6°C · Low 8.2°C · 70 mm rain
- Douglas in MayIsle of Man · 316 kmHigh 11.7°C · Low 9.3°C · 56 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 Galway) is explained once on the Galway year overview and on the Sources, method and limits page.