Galway weather by month

The best time to visit Galway is May to July — 86/100 in July, 19°C and 14 rainy days. The best season is summer, June to August (84/100 on average).

The worst month is December at 52/100 — cold, rainy, clean air. See December →

Updated September 2026 · climate normals from ERA5 reanalysis

Planning the wider trip? Best time to visit Ireland →

Galway🇮🇪 Ireland · British Isles · City86
  1. 55Jan
  2. 58Feb
  3. 64Mar
  4. 74Apr
  5. 83May
  6. 85Jun
  7. 86Jul
  8. 81Aug
  9. 76Sep
  10. 67Oct
  11. 59Nov
  12. 52Dec

Best season: June to August (84/100 on average) · worst December (52/100)

Days
19°C
Nights
13°C
Wet days
14
Sun
8.3 h
Humidity
80%
Daylight
16 h
Galway, Ireland
Photo: Jonathan Borba · Pexels

Galway, month by month

Comfort score out of 100 for the kind of trip Galway is best for, the average high, rainy days and hours of sun a day from the climate normals, and how busy it tends to be.

MonthScoreTierHighRainSunCrowdsOn
Jan55D8°C14 d4 hBusy1
Feb58D9°C16 d5 hBusy1
Mar64C10°C14 d6 hPeak1
Apr74B13°C12 d8 hBusy1
May83A16°C12 d10 hBusy1
Jun85A18°C14 d9 hBusy1
Jul86A19°C14 d8 hPeak3
Aug81A18°C16 d8 hPeak1
Sep76B16°C14 d6 hShoulder1
Oct67C14°C16 d5 hPeak1
Nov59D10°C15 d4 hPeak2
Dec52D9°C16 d3 hPeak2

What's on in Galway through the year

Festivals, natural spectacles, holidays and the seasons to watch out for — curated and sourced. The month pages carry the detail.

March
  • St Patrick's Day parade14–17 MarFestival
April
  • Cuirt literature festival21–26 AprFestival
May
  • Galway Early Music Festival22–24 MayFestival
July
  • Galway Film Fleadh6–14 Jul (usually)Festival
  • Galway International Arts Festival13–27 Jul (usually)Festival
  • Galway Races25 Jul – 4 Aug (usually)Festival
September
  • Galway Oyster Festival24–30 Sep (usually)Festival
October
  • Macnas Halloween parade25 Oct – 1 Nov (usually)Festival
November
  • Galway Christmas Market14 Nov – 22 Dec (usually)Opening
December
  • Atlantic winter storms1 Dec – 28 Feb (usually)Hazard

Everything on in Galway through the year →

Crowds in Galway in July

How busy the place itself is — school and mass holidays, the months an editor tagged, and how sought-after the weather makes them. Never part of the comfort score.

Peak crowdsGalway International Arts Festival, Galway Races, Summer holidays in Ireland(estimated)

JFMAMJJASOND

Peak crowdsBusyShoulder seasonQuiet

Good to know before you go to Galway

Real experiences from travellers' own write-ups, quoted with a link to the original.

Food & drink

A guide to Galway's live music pub scene points to Monroe's on the West End as a genuine local favorite for traditional Irish music sessions, alongside The Crane Bar, Tigh Neachtain, and Róisín Dubh, all hosting sessions most nights. Their timing tip: sessions typically start around 9pm, so showing up for dinner beforehand and staying on rather than arriving right at opening gets you the room actually filling up with both musicians and a crowd, not an empty pub waiting for the night to start.
The Irish Road Trip · Read the original ↗

Traveller notes on Galway

What people who have been say about the place — the year-round notes first, then month by month.

Forum posters describe January in Galway as very cold, windy, and prone to rain slanting in off the Atlantic, with real potential for snow, ice, and gale-force winds on a given day. Posters are consistent, though, that a good sunny day around 10C isn't dramatically colder than an average summer day here - the range between a bad and good January day is genuinely wide. Posters flag that some attractions and B&Bs close for the month, though the surrounding countryside stays accessible, if often wet and muddy underfoot. Posters consistently recommend proper waterproofs and layers as the essential preparation, describing Irish weather as changeable enough within a single day that flexible clothing matters more than any single forecast. Posters generally rate January as workable with the right gear, but genuinely one of Galway's harsher months.
Tripadvisor community · January · 1 month ago · Read more on Tripadvisor ↗
July in Galway runs to the high teens — around 18°C on average, occasionally into the mid-20s — and the forum's honesty is about rain rather than heat: July can be rainier than May while being warmer, and rain gear is the one thing every poster insists on whatever the month. The record puts it at about fourteen wet days. Their framing is the useful part, though: you will get beautiful days too, and the standing local line is that there is no such thing as bad weather, only bad clothing. A light jacket and a sweater for the evenings.
Tripadvisor community · July · 1 month ago · Read more on Tripadvisor ↗

Add your own note from Galway's card on the map.