When is the best time to travel to: Northern Ireland

North Ireland basically has an oceanic climate or a temperate maritime climate. The winters are milder, but also more rainy than in other places on the same longitude. On the other hand, the summers are usually cooler and more humid than in comparable places. The reason is probably that North Ireland is under the influence of the Gulf Stream. It helps keep the North Irish coast free of ice in winter, which is on the other hand unusual for locations on that longitude. All in all the weather causes few surprises with a few extremes (at least so far).

Compared to most other countries in Great Britain it is cooler in North Ireland, but on average it is a little warmer than in Scotland. December to April is milder than Wales; December to February is milder than England. But for the rest of the year it is comparatively cooler in North Ireland than anywhere else in Great Britain. The sun shines relatively little, only in Scotland you can see the sun even less within the UK. Surprisingly, North Ireland is generally drier than Scotland and Wales. On the other hand it rains statistically more in Northern Ireland. What you should also note: it is comparatively windy in North Ireland, which of course often makes the perceived temperature appear lower.

As mentioned above the summers in Northern Ireland are not very hot and the winters are not very cold. In winter, the country reaches maximum temperatures of up to 7 ° C on average. However, the cold record was at least -17.5 ° C.

In summer, the highest average temperature is around 17 ° C. Here, too, there are outliers upwards, the record is around 31 ° C.

Overall, it is difficult to establish a certain average temperature for the entire country. In the mountainous regions it is 7 ° C, in the lowlands around 9 ° C. Parts of the North Antrim coast, Bangor and the northern down coast have an average of 10 ° C.

The west of North Ireland is more humid than the east. Lough Neagh brings it to 825mm, and it looks similar in Kilkeel and Newcastle. The mountainous regions of the Sperrings, Glens Of Antrim and the Morne Mountains generally have more rainfall than the surrounding lowlands. Spring is the driest season. It rains most in October to January.

Snowfall is not the rule in North Ireland, although there is no protection from the capricious weather. Nevertheless, snow in the lowlands and the coasts is rather uncommon. But in the higher regions it can always snow in winter. North Ireland has had years without any snow, but there were winters with extremely heavy snowfalls in the early 1960s and early 1980s. Most recently, North Ireland surprised with an extremely violent onset of winter on March 31, 2010, which led to severe disabilities.

Basically, the east of North Ireland is sunnier than the west. The East lies in the protection of the Atlantic air system. The Ards peninsula is the sunniest, with 1,500 hours of sunshine per year. The further west, the less the sun can be seen. The least sunshine is in December, the sunniest is May.

The best time for Northern Ireland is from May to September, with May generally being the sunniest month overall (though not the warmest!). Basically, it can be said that the weather in the east tends to be sunnier and less rainy than in the west.

The following climate table shows the average climate values for Belfast (general average values):

(* days >0.25mm precipitation)