November the sunniest month on record in many areas

THOSE currently being swept by wind and rain may find it hard to believe, but last month was the sunniest November on record in several parts of the country, according to Met Eireann.

Meanwhile, 2006 has just had the warmest autumn on record in many places, with September and October particularly warm.

Although the outlook for the opening week of December remains gloomy amid talk of more heavy rain and strong winds, Met Eireann revealed yesterday that Cork, Dublin and Birr enjoyed their sunniest November since records began.

That’s despite the entire country getting more rain than normal.

There was little rain in the first week of November but after that almost all parts of the country saw some wet weather every day.

But it wasn’t all grey skies as sunshine totals were well above normal in many parts of the country, with Dublin recording about nine hours of sunshine on the first of the month — its highest November daily value on record and the highest anywhere since 1968.

And meteorologists also noted average air temperatures for the month were around one degree higher than normal, despite a relatively cold first week.

For the three months of autumn, average temperatures were one degree above normal everywhere, and almost two degrees above normal in many areas. .

Today’s weather is expected to be dry and bright in most areas, but Met Eireann say it will become “very windy and wet” this evening. The outlook for the coming days is for more unsettled weather, with severe winds at times, with gales gusting up to 140kph on Sunday.