Wet, cold, sunny... an Irish summer

It’s official – this summer was a total washout thanks to largely wet and windy conditions putting a dampener on the country’s fine weather wishes.

According to Met Éireann, which has just released reports on June, July and August, Cork had the wettest day of the season while Dublin had the sunniest, the hottest, and the coldest.

The highest amount of rainfall this summer, 41.3mm, was recorded at Cork Airport on July 6 making it Cork’s wettest summer day in eight years.

However, the highest rainfall of the season as a whole was recorded at Knock Airport, Co Mayo, with some 390.8mm falling over the course of the three months.

Dublin was the driest area in the country this summer, with 147.5mm of rainfall recorded at Casement Aerodrome in the south-west of Dublin, the area’s driest summer since 2006.

Overall, 27 “wet” days, or days with 1mm or more of rain, were recorded at Dublin Airport, compared to 56 at Knock Airport.

In terms of sunshine, Dublin had the sunniest day with 15.7 hours recorded on June 10 at both Dublin Airport and Casement Aerodrome. It was the area’s sunniest day in five years.

Dublin also had the highest amount of sunshine all summer, with 496.9 hours recorded at Dublin Airport, while Knock Airport notched up its dullest summer since the station opened 19 years ago. Only 291.2 hours of sunshine were recorded.

In relation to temperatures, Dublin had the hottest day with a temperature of 25.6C recorded at Phoenix Park on June 30, but it also had the coldest with 0.7C recorded at Dublin Airport on June 9.

It was the lowest summer air temperature recorded in the area since the station opened in 1942.

Clare takes top spot for the hottest summer overall with a highest mean temperature of 14.3C. The lowest mean, 12.3C, was recorded at Knock Airport.

Nearly all of the 25 main stations reported below average temperatures this summer. In Clare, Shannon Airport’s highest recorded temperature was 22.9C – the lowest “highest temperature” since 1980.