White Christmas in Ireland: how often it snows on 25 December

Met Éireann's records show which Christmas Days brought snow, where snow falls most, and why January is a better bet than December. The charts use Met Éireann's station records.

Ireland's coldest December night on record fell on Christmas morning. On 25 December 2010, the air at Straide, Co Mayo, dropped to -17.5°C. That is still the lowest December temperature Met Éireann has measured anywhere in the country.

Yet a snowy Christmas is rare. Met Éireann's study of snowfall found that snow fell at one or more of its main weather stations on 17 Christmas Days between 1961 and 2010. Snow was lying on the ground at 9am on only 9 of them.

What counts as a white Christmas

There is more than one answer. Met Éireann's snowfall study, written by Aidan Murphy in November 2012, says many people picture a full covering of snow on the ground. It adds that bookmakers sometimes count a single snowflake seen falling at any point in the 24 hours.

Met Éireann's records count Christmas Days when snow fell at a synoptic station, one of its main weather stations. They also count days when snow was lying on the ground at the 9am observation.

“For many people, a White Christmas means a complete covering of snow on the ground.”Aidan Murphy, Snowfall in Ireland, Met Éireann, November 2012

Snowy Christmases came in clusters

The years with snow are not spread evenly. The ten years from 1961 to 1970, and again from 1991 to 2000, each had five Christmas Days with snow at a station. The ten years from 1971 to 1980 had only one, in 1980.

Dublin Airport has kept records since 1941. Snow fell there on 12 Christmas Days up to 2010. Met Éireann works this out as snow falling on Christmas Day about once every 5.9 years at the airport.

Snow lying on the ground at Dublin Airport on Christmas morning happened only once in that time: in 2010, when 20cm was measured. Across all stations, the nine Christmas mornings with lying snow were 1964, 1970, 1980, 1993, 1995, 1999, 2004, 2009 and 2010.

Christmas 2010 was the big one

Met Éireann's report on the cold spell of late 2010 calls it the coldest December on record almost everywhere. Temperatures stayed below freezing for nine days in a row in some inland areas.

By Christmas Day, 27cm of snow lay at Casement Aerodrome in west Dublin. That is the deepest Christmas Day snow at any synoptic station. Casement also fell to -15.7°C that morning, the lowest temperature ever recorded in the Dublin area in any month.

No snow reported on recent Christmas Days

Met Éireann's monthly climate statements describe Christmas Day 2023 as mild, damp and cloudy. In 2024 the Christmas period stayed mostly mild, dry and cloudy. In 2021 and 2022, Christmas Day brought heavy rain in parts of the country.

None of the December statements for 2020 to 2025 reports snow on Christmas Day. The highest December temperature on its records page is 18.1°C at Peamount, Co Dublin, on 2 December 1948.

Where snow falls most

Snow is far more common in the north and midlands than in the south-west. Met Éireann's averages for 1961 to 2000 show about 25 days with snow a year at Malin Head and 24 at Clones. Valentia, on the Kerry coast, has just 5.

January beats December for snow

Christmas falls too early for the snowiest part of winter. At Dublin Airport, December averages 3 days with snow, against 5.6 in January and 5 in February. Snow usually lies for only a day or two.