Last updated: 15-10-2026
This policy explains what happens to your information when you use Honest Weather Ireland. We keep it as small as we can. We do not ask you to create an account, and we do not sell your information.
Who we are
Honest Weather Ireland is a weather website for Ireland. We are the controller of the information described here. You can reach us through the contact page.
What we collect and why
Weather searches and your location
When you pick a place or search for a town, its name is sent to our server, which asks our weather data provider, OpenWeatherMap, for the forecast. Your browser does not contact OpenWeatherMap, so your IP address is not passed to them by us. If you press “Use my location”, your device shares its position once, only to find the weather near you. We do not link it to you and we do not keep it. Only a rounded location is held briefly in a cache so the same forecast can be reused.
Your favourite and recent places
If you save places, they are stored in your own browser (local storage). They are not sent to us. You can clear them at any time in your browser settings.
Messages you send us
If you use the contact form, we receive your name, email address and message by email, and we use them only to reply to you. They are not saved on the website. To block spam, we briefly keep a scrambled (hashed) version of your connection address for up to one hour, and a scrambled fingerprint of the message for up to a day. We keep emails in our inbox only as long as needed to deal with your message.
Visit counts
To see how many people use the site, we keep simple private counts on our own website: how many visitors and page views each day, which pages were viewed, which site sent the visitor (for example a search engine) and whether the screen was a phone, tablet or computer. We do not store IP addresses, browser details or cookies for this, and we send nothing to anyone else. To avoid counting the same person twice in one day, a one-way scrambled code made from the connection and browser is held briefly in a temporary cache and deleted within a day. It cannot be used to follow you from one day to the next. We do not count visitors who send a “Do Not Track” or Global Privacy Control signal. Daily totals are kept for up to about 13 months.
Server records
Like every website, our web host automatically records technical information such as your IP address, browser type, the pages requested and the time. This is used to run the service, keep it secure and find faults. It is kept by the host for a limited time under its own policies.
Cookies and similar technologies
Necessary: we remember your cookie choice in your browser (a small cookie and local-storage entry called hw_consent), so we do not ask you again on every visit. This does not track you. Our fonts are hosted on this site, not loaded from another company.
Analytics (only if we switch it on and you say yes): we may use an analytics service to count visits and see which pages are useful, for example how many people use the site each day. It may set cookies or similar identifiers and collect information such as pages viewed, approximate location, device and browser type. We use this only to improve the site. Analytics code does not run until you accept, and it does not run for logged-in site administrators.
Advertising (only if we switch it on): the site may show advertising to cover its costs. If you accept, our advertising partners may use cookies and similar technologies, together with information about your device and browsing, to show and measure personalised ads. If you choose the plain option, only non-personalised ads are shown. These are chosen from the page you are on, not from your browsing history, and do not use advertising cookies. Some sponsor messages and banners are placed directly by us and use no cookies.
Analytics and advertising partners handle information under their own privacy policies. When we start using one, we will name it here with a link to its policy. You can also manage personalised ads through Your Online Choices.
You can change your choice at any time:
Our legal basis
- Consent for analytics cookies and personalised advertising. You can withdraw consent at any time, and it is as easy to withdraw as to give.
- Legitimate interests for running and securing the site, preventing spam, and replying to messages you send us.
Sharing and transfers
We share information only with the services that make the site work: our web host, our weather data provider and, if we use them and you accept, analytics and advertising partners. Some of these may handle information outside Ireland, the UK or the European Economic Area. Where they do, we expect them to use approved safeguards. We do not sell your personal information.
How long we keep information
Rounded location data in the weather cache is replaced within a day. Spam-protection records last up to one hour (connection) or one day (message fingerprint). The scrambled visitor code used for counting expires within a day. Emails are kept only as long as needed. Browser storage stays on your device until you clear it. Third-party partners keep information under their own policies.
Your rights
Under data protection law (GDPR and the UK GDPR), you can ask to see, correct or delete personal information we hold about you, object to or restrict how we use it, ask for it in a portable form, and withdraw consent at any time. Use the contact page to make a request. You also have the right to complain to the supervisory authority: the Data Protection Commission in the Republic of Ireland (dataprotection.ie) or the Information Commissioner’s Office in Northern Ireland (ico.org.uk).
Children
Honest Weather Ireland is not aimed at children, and we do not knowingly collect personal information from them.
Weather disclaimer and liability
Forecasts can change. Honest Weather Ireland is for general information only. The weather data comes from a third-party provider and can be wrong or out of date. Do not rely on it for safety-critical decisions. Check official warnings from Met Éireann (Republic of Ireland) or the Met Office (Northern Ireland) for anything important.
Honest Weather Ireland is provided “as is”, with no promise that it is accurate, complete, up to date or always available. To the fullest extent the law allows, we are not responsible for any loss, damage or inconvenience that results from using the site or relying on its forecasts, or from content on sites we link to. Nothing in this policy limits any liability that cannot legally be limited, including liability for death or personal injury caused by negligence, for fraud, or your rights as a consumer.
Changes to this policy
If we change how we use information, for example by adding an analytics or advertising service, we will update this page and the date at the top.