Wet summer may not be caused by climate change

DESPITE the wettest summer in half a century a senior Met Éireann forecaster has claimed it is too early to blame the unseasonable weather on climate change.

Ray McGrath, Met Éireann’s head of research, said that, while July and August of the last two years were swamped with torrential downpours, it was nothing too out of the ordinary.

Speaking at a three-day conference on climate change at Trinity College, Mr McGrath revealed that figures from the meteorological service revealed parts of the country showed rainfall levels 200% above normal, with Dublin recording the heaviest levels in 171 years.