Ireland had coldest December since big freeze of 2010

The first half of the month saw very cold Arctic air masses dominating across the country. Picture: Domnick Walsh 

Ireland had its coldest December since the big freeze of 2010 last month, with temperatures below average in every part of the country.

Met Éireann’s provisional weather statement for December 2022 said the first half of the month saw very cold Arctic air masses dominating across the country.

The lowest minimum temperature of the month was recorded at Mount Dillon in Roscommon, reaching as low as –13C on Wednesday 14th.

The number of ground frost days ranged from eight days at Sherkin Island in Cork to 28 days at Markree in Sligo.

Ballyhaise in Cavan had the coldest daily maximum temperature at any weather station since December 2010, with a maximum of –3.1C on Monday 12.

Although the conditions did bring snow in parts, it was not on the scale seen in 2010, with widespread snowfalls causing road and air travel chaos heading into Christmas.

Met Éireann said the colder temperatures at the start of the month and drier-than-average conditions paved the way for a less cold and wetter second half of December.

“The final two weeks of the month saw Atlantic low-pressure systems to the west and north in charge, bringing rain or showers on most days, in a mostly southerly to westerly airflow,” it said.

“The rainfall was especially widespread and heavy between the 23rd and 25th, thundery in places on the 24th, and again between the 28th and 30th, with numerous active weather fronts crossing the country.” 

The majority of monthly rainfall totals across the country were lower than average, although Belmullet in Mayo had 136% of its average rainfall.

Indeed, Belmullet recorded the wettest day of the month, with 41.3mm of rain on Christmas Day.

Cork Airport recorded the highest number of daily sunshine hours at seven hours on Thursday, December 15.

Met Éireann said it was sunny in most places during the month, before the rain moved in towards the end of the month.

The uptick in temperatures towards the end of December and into January in Ireland has come as weather records were being broken across Europe, with a heatwave sweeping across the continent.

France recorded temperatures in the mid-20s on New Year’s Day while Switzerland and Poland saw temperatures in the high teens.

Maynooth University professor of climate change Peter Thorne described the heatwave as being “supercharged by human-induced warming of the climate system”.

“In the depths of winter, you’re having days that are warmer than the average day in the year, it’s quite stark,” he said.