Environment

June temperatures fell below average ‘nearly everywhere’, Met Éireann says

Averages some three degrees below those recorded in same month last year, which was hottest June on record

Shoppers cover up during rain showers on Grafton Street, Dublin in late June, a month in which Met Éireann said temperatures came in below average 'nearly everywhere' in Ireland. Photograph: Fran Veale
Shoppers cover up during rain showers on Grafton Street, Dublin in late June, a month in which Met Éireann said temperatures came in below average 'nearly everywhere' in Ireland. Photograph: Fran Veale
Jack White
Tue Jul 02 2024 - 12:42

While Ireland had its hottest June on record last year, last month was one of the coolest for some time, according to Met Éireann.

Temperatures were lowest in the northwest last month but came in below average “nearly everywhere”, the forecaster said, despite following on from the warmest May on record.

June had an average temperature of 13.18 degrees, making it the 56th coldest June in Met Éireann’s 125-year data set and the coldest since 2015. This represented a drop of more than three degrees on June 2023, when an average temperature of 16.22 degrees was recorded.

The weather was cool and dry overall, with temperatures only two degrees higher than the coldest June on record, an average of 11.08 degrees in 1972.

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Met Éireann climatologist Paul Moore said fluctuations from one extreme to the other can be expected given where Ireland is situated.

“If we get a run of northerly winds from the Arctic as we did during the first half of June, and we’re on the northern side of the jet steam, we are likely to have cooler than average temperatures still, even in a warming world,” he said.

Although it remains too early to say with certainty, he said the long term forecasts show above average temperatures for July and August.

The month’s highest temperature, 26.6 degrees, was reported at the Phoenix Park in Dublin on June 24th, which came as a tropical maritime air mass moved over the country from the southwest. The lowest temperature, 1.8 degrees, was recorded at night in Claremorris, Co Mayo.

Although there was no air frost reported, the number of days with ground frost ranged from zero at Shannon Airport in Co Clare to four days at Mullingar, Co Westmeath and Mount Dillon, Co Roscommon.

Monthly sunshine totals ranged from 124.7 hours at Belmullet, Co Mayo to 181.3 hours at Cork Airport. The highest number of sunshine hours in a day (15.9) was recorded at Gurteen, Co Tipperary on June 19th.

Meanwhile, all monthly rainfall totals across the country were below average with Cork Airport weather station recording its driest June since 2018. The number of rain days ranged from nine at Roche’s Point, Co Cork and Cork Airport to 23 days at Malin Head, Co Donegal.

Jack White

Jack White

Jack White is a reporter for The Irish Times