Sizzling summer hottest in a decade

SCORCHING temperatures have earned summer 2006 the title of being the warmest, driest and sunniest in more than a decade, according to weather experts.

This was helped by a particularly dry August, after just over one-third of normal rainfall was measured at some Met Éireann stations, including Belmullet in Mayo.

It was the third successive month with below-average rainfalls nationally, meaning dry and pleasant weather for most of the country. But spare a thought for the country’s farmers who are facing a possible shortage of fodder this winter as a result of the improved conditions.

But some parts of the country enjoyed more sun over the last three months than they had for decades, with Cork Airport and Valentia Observatory reporting the sunniest summer for about 40 years.

Overall, it was the warmest, driest and sunniest summer since 1995, according to Met Éireann.

The country’s most northerly point at Malin Head in Donegal recorded the warmest summer since records began in 1885.

But the highest temperature of the summer was reported at Casement Aerodrome on July 19, where 31 degrees Celsius was the highest daily value at the Co Meath weather station since it opened in 1964.

This coincided with the summer’s hottest spell on July 18 and 19 for most of the country, except at Cork Airport area which measured its highest temperature on August 5.

The country’s average air temperatures were at least one degree higher than normal everywhere for the summer and close to two degrees above normal in places in Clones, Co Monaghan and Kilkenny.

Met Éireann spokesman Peter Lennon said that, while it was a very good summer, it didn’t break records recorded at most stations in 1995.

Statistics show that summer rainfall totals were below normal everywhere and well below normal over most of the southern half of the country. It was the driest summer since 1995 at most stations, while Shannon Airport reported the driest summer on record, going back as far as 1945.

The Met office predicts this month’s weather will be very mixed but are hopeful things will settle down in the coming weeks.