Gulf Stream brings gloom and grumbles

Donal Hickey looks at the reasons for our wet summer.

IRELAND might appear to be the wettest country in the world. Funny thing, however, it’s not. Dublin gets an average annual rainfall of 30 inches, but they get a lot more in parts of America — 60 inches in Miami, Florida, for example.

So, even allowing for the fact the west is much wetter than Dublin, is Ireland that rain-sodden after all? Well, the difference is that many other countries tend to get all their rain in one season — a good lash for a while and then weeks and months of sunshine.

Our unpredictable rainfall is spread generously throughout the year. Experts say this is because of the influence of the Gulf Stream, which gives us mild winters, often cool summers and rain at any time.

Stand-up comics are about the only people getting a kick out of the weather this summer. Talk to holiday-makers or to anyone trying to make a living in Ballybunion, or Bundoran, or any other seaside resort where business is reported to be down by as much as 75%.

Farmers are on the point of despair, with land as wet as it was ever was in a thoroughly drenched November. And is it any wonder that people are snapping up holidays in sun destinations?

We’ve become all too familiar this summer with a nightly refrain — weather forecasts telling of “another depression moving in from the Atlantic”.

As the Atlantic controls most our weather systems, it’s only appropriate that the Marine Institute should be studying key drivers of climate change in Ireland by studying forces at work in the great ocean that washes our western shores.

“The behaviour of the Gulf Stream and other important Atlantic currents have a direct impact on our weather. This in turn affects food production, both at sea and on the land, as well as extreme oceanic events, such as high waves and tides,” said Marine Institute chief executive Dr Peter Heffernan.

The institute, other government agencies and third-level colleges are working together on a flagship initiative to make Ireland a global leader in the development and use of new technologies, such as Smartbay, which uses wireless sensors in the sea to keep tabs on the marine environment

The institute is also involved in a number of international studies on climate change and has recently embarked on studies in the mid-Atlantic at the interface between the warm North Atlantic Drift current and the colder northern seas.

Effects of climate change in the Atlantic can include more storms and coastal flooding, as well as changes in the distribution of fish and plants — all subjects of ongoing research by the institute

By 2020, it is hoped Ireland will be a key player in the European-North Atlantic climate change scenario. By that time, we should have more accurate and sophisticated ways of forecasting the weather, including warnings on storm surges, coastal flooding and fish movements.

While we constantly complain about the weather, we don’t hear half as much grumbling from our visitors. Many Irish people go around in shirt sleeves even on days that are likely to rain, but our visitors come far better prepared, with plenty of raingear.

Neither do they seem to be as surprised, or perturbed, as we do when the showers inevitably come and they certainly don’t talk as much about the rain. Americans remarking on how green the country looks aren’t long finding out why.

And, it will only get greener given that rainfall here is projected to rise by 11% by 2050.

After two wet summers in succession, even more Irish people will be reluctant to take their holidays at home. You would have to have pity for people, especially parents with young children trying to pass away rainy days this summer in places such as Killarney and Clonakilty.

People could be paying up to €1,000 per week to rent a holiday home with hopes of spending long, carefree days on beaches, but they find themselves trying to keep the children happy indoors during the endless rain.

Finally, an example of a classic, three-day weather outlook from the Met Office, on August 12, which sums up the story of our summer: “The weather continues to remain very unsettled with no hope at all of any real improvement this week or over the weekend... Thursday and Friday won’t be the wettest days of the week… But then during the day on Friday cloud will increase and outbreaks of rain will start to develop. But it will be over the weekend that the rain will get very heavy once more.

“During Saturday another Atlantic depression will come close to Ireland. That will give more torrential rain, cloudbursts and downpours and lead on to more flooding. Then an improvement for Sunday, but the day is still likely to be showery.’

Couldn’t put it better than that.