Forecasters brand summer ‘a stinker’
Weather forecasters said the country had endured a “downright atrocious” summer, with below-average temperatures for two-and-a-half months and more cool days and rain to come before autumn sweeps in next month.
Few people would disagree with the experts, with the weekend’s cool temperatures peaking at 14C to 18C amid showers and more of the same all this week.
Met Éireann said the maximum temperature in Ireland this summer has been 25.5C, recorded at Oak Park, Co Carlow, on June 3. The last time Ireland’s peak summer temperature was so low was in 1965, which had a top temperature of 25.2C at Ballybrittas, Co Laois, on June 29.
Met Eireann meteorological officer Brian Delaney said: “The maximum temperature this summer has been 25.5C at Oak Park and the last time we had a maximum temperature lower than that was in 1965.”
In contrast, Ireland hit 27.1C twice last summer and 28.6C in 2010 — with previous years seeing a near-record 32.3C scorcher on July 19, 2006, at Elphin, Co Roscommon, and 30C in 2005 and 2003.
Forecasters say there is no chance of Ireland experiencing a hot spell in the final fortnight of the summer, with the unsettled weather set to continue.
August has been almost as bad as June and July so far, with areas of the country experiencing their coolest August temperatures for almost 20 years.
Met Éireann figures showed Cork Airport’s 13.9C average temperature so far this month is the lowest for August since 1992, which saw 13.5C.
Shannon Airport has averaged 14.8C this month — the coolest since August 1993’s 14.7C.
Overall, temperatures have been below average at six of the 10 Met Eireann stations which have current temperature records.
The poor August comes after a disappointing first two months of summer.
For the 1.7 million people who live in the Greater Dublin area, July was the coolest for half a century.
Met Éireann said Dublin’s main weather station, at the Dublin Airport, averaged just 13.8C, the coldest since July 1965, which saw 13.1C.
Parts of the country also had their least sunny July in 14 years.
Met Eireann predicts showers — some heavy — will continue through this week and over the coming weekend, with maximum temperatures of 14C to 18C.
Positive Weather Solutions senior forecaster Jonathan Powell said: “With the jet stream poorly positioned, Atlantic weather fronts have won hands down with showers never letting up.”
Forecaster Brian Gaze of The Weather Outlook said: “Ireland’s summer has been mixed on the whole and, at times, downright atrocious.
