Extreme weather? What about Ireland’s ‘sneachta mór’ of 818

Ireland has been hit with extreme snowfall as far back as the 9th century, according to a RTÉ documentary.

But while the storms that battered the country over the past few years have caused damage and flooding, the new series, Creedon’s Weather: Four Seasons In One Day, revealed that the waist-deep snowfall of 822 ended up causing a famine.

Last year was the wettest winter since records began nearly 150 years ago, while 2010 was one of the coldest winters recorded in the last century. But Francis Ludlow, historical climatologist at Yale University, said ancient weather reports in the medieval history manuscript — the Annals of Ulster, written from the early 400s to 1504 — show Ireland was experiencing extreme winters as far back as the 800s.