2022 the hottest year on record, according to Met Éireann's provisional figures 

A woman walks through the long grass in Dublin’s Phoenix Park on the day Ireland's second-highest ever temperature was recorded. Picture: Conor Ó Mearáin / Collins Photos

2022 has been Ireland's hottest year on record, according to provisional figures from Met Éireann.

With a predicted average temperature of 10.8C, this year is set to surpass the previous record set in 2007.

The forecaster says 2022 is the 12th consecutive year in which temperatures have been above normal here. Overall, 21 of the 22 years this century have seen temperatures above normal.

Earlier this year, a report from the EU's Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S) found summer 2022 was the hottest on record for the continent "by a substantial margin".

Temperatures were 0.8C higher on average in Europe in August than the previous high set in 2018, while the summer months overall were 0.4C hotter than last year than in 2021.

Provisionally warmest year on Irish record.

Ireland provisionally had its warmest year on record in 2022 with a mean temperature of above 10.8°C and just above the previous warmest year of 2007. 2022 was also the 12th consecutive year above normal. https://t.co/XEgcSjtoh4
🥵🥵 pic.twitter.com/ngG769HfO0

— Climate Services @ Met Éireann (@METclimate) December 30, 2022

In Ireland, a number of temperature records were broken in 2022.

In July, the weather station in Dublin's Phoenix Park recorded an air temperature of 33.1C — the highest temperature ever recorded for that month and the highest temperature recorded anywhere in Ireland in the 21st century.

Eight other stations measured record temperatures on the same day.

They were:

• Casement Aerodrome, Co Dublin (record length: 58 years) — 31.9C 
• Mount Dillon, Co Roscommon (record length: 14 years) — 31.4C 
• Gurteen, Co Tipperary (record length: 14 years)  — 31.0C 
• Ballyhaise, Co Cavan (record length: 17 years) — 30.8C 
• Athenry, Co Galway (record length: 12 years)  — 30.5C 
• Dunsany, Co Meath (record length: 48 years) — 30.5C 
• Mullingar, Co Westmeath (record length: 72 years) — 30.4C 
• Dublin Airport (record length: 80 years) — 29.6C 
• Shannon Airport (record length: 76 years) — 30.8°C

The highest temperature ever recorded here was 33.3C in Kilkenny Castle in 1887.

In its summer 2022 statement, Met Éireann said every weather station in the country recorded above average mean temperatures for July and August.

Last month, seven Met Éireann weather stations recorded their warmest November in more than a decade.

On Sunday, November 13, at Finner, Co Donegal, the mercury hit 17.6C — the highest November temperature seen in Ireland in a quarter of a century.

Keith Lambkin, head of Met Éireann's Climate Services Division said warming trends seen in Ireland are in line with trends seen globally.

He said climate change projections indicate further hotter, drier summers for Europe and for Ireland, and an increased risk of heatwaves and periods of drought.

"Climate change has changed the odds of getting more frequent, more extreme heat related events," he said.

"Thanks to over a century of dedicated weather observations here in Ireland, we know that 2022 brought us record-breaking extremes as well as what is likely to be the warmest year on Irish record. It is essential that we must continue to adapt to ensure our national infrastructures and planning are best suited to both current and future warming."