Summer of 2018 among warmest and driest on record

Many parts of Ireland had the driest and sunniest summer for more than than 20 years, Met Éireann has revealed.

June and July were gloriously sunny and dry for the most part across the country. Even August, which was cooler and wetter in many places, saw dry and sunny conditions prevail in the south and east of the country.

Oak Park station in Co Carlow had an average summer temperatures of 16.8 degrees, 1.9 degrees above the norm. This was its warmest summer since 1995.

Shannon Airport and Cork Airport also had their warmest summers in 23 years. It was the warmest summer in Dublin since 2006.

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Met Éireann climatologist Tom Murphy said the summer of 2018 ranks as one of the warmest on record and possibly only behind 1976 and 1995 in terms of the all-time ranking.

He added that had the last week of August not been distinctly cool, many places in the south and east would have had the warmest summer since records began.

Warmer than normal

Every weather station was warmer than normal with the differences ranging from 0.5 degrees at Malin Head in Co Donegal to 1.9 degrees at Oak Park.

Oak Park, Phoenix Park, Mullingar, Johnstown Castle in Co Kilkenny and Casement Aerodrome had the driest summers since 1995.

There was a distinct east-west split in rainfall patterns. Some places in the south and east got less than half their average rainfall for the season most notably Phoenix Park (38 per cent of the long-term average), Cork Airport (43 per cent) and Oak Park (46 per cent).

Places in the north and west got close to the seasonal average rainfall, though much of this rain fell in August. Newport in Co Mayo recorded 37mms of rain on August 17th.

Absolute drought conditions prevailed from late June until mid-July in the east, midlands, west and south while partial drought conditions prevailed in the south from early June until late July.

Though there is no longer a drought, water shortages are still in place in the south and east. Rainfall in Phoenix Park in August was just 56 per cent of the average for the month.