A mere climatic blip — or has our summer become a warm memory?

IS something sinister happening to our summers? Climate change obeservers consistently mention “warmer, drier summers” for Ireland, yet if the last three are anything to go by this is way off the mark, at least in the short term. 2007 turned out to be the wettest summer in many parts of Ireland for 50 years. This followed a dry, warm spring.

When this pattern appeared to unfold in 2008 I convinced myself this was highly unlikely to happen again.

To all our horrors last “summer” eclipsed 2007 for sheer awfulness and August alone emerged as the worst for 120 years in the east of the country.