Soggy month signs off with wettest July for decades

WET and windy as a tinker’s cat. As if we hadn’t noticed, Met Éireann has confirmed that July was mostly a miserable month with a cool and wet start and a muggy and wet end to proceedings.

Cork recorded its wettest month in more than 30 years while even in Wexford, normally drier than the rest, rainfall was twice the level of recent years.

Much of the first half of July was wet and relatively cool, but warmer and drier conditions developed until the last few days of the month, when rain or showers again became widespread.

High pressure was responsible for the settled conditions in the period after mid-month, but low pressure to the southwest of the country at both the beginning and end of July, brought some heavy rain or showers in all areas, with thunderstorms on several days.

Rainfall totals for the month were above normal at all Met Office stations except Belmullet, and were more than twice the normal July rates in the east and south. Cork airport’s total of 156mm was its highest for July since 1975.

Both in Cork and at Johnstown Castle in Wexford, combined June and July 2008 totals were more than twice the norm, worse even than last year which also featured a miserable July.

The start of the month saw the heaviest daily rainfalls while Co Limerick experienced heavy rain on the very last day of July, causing some of its worst flooding in years.

Areas of low pressure to the southwest brought frequent rain or showers, particularly during the first six days of the month. Sunny spells were recorded on each day also, with more than 10 hours of daily sunshine in places between July 2-4, but maximum temperatures were below normal.

During the middle of the month there were signs that summer might have finally arrived with relatively little rain from the July 11-27.

However, as if to make up for lost time, the heavens opened from July 28-31 when high winds accompanied spells of heavy rain as thunderstorms took hold.