Donal Hickey: The Scaraveen reminds us that summer is not here yet

The cold hand of winter holds tightly to its grip and wants to give its last whip.

Heavy rain on the Samuel Beckett bridge in Dublin this week. Picture: Stephen Collins

You might expect the elements to be kinder in the first week of summer, but what we’ve been getting is not unseasonal. It’s the Scaraveen, after all, the period covering the last two weeks in April and the first two weeks in May. A time of unpredictable weather patterns when temperatures can vary widely.

At the time of writing, hailstones are hopping off the roof and there’s a wintry chill outside. There’s frost at night in places and we’ve been having mixed weather; sunshine for a while and then it can change quickly to rain and cool, gusty winds.