Summer weather: Cold, rainy spell shows no signs of ending

Ireland was basking in a six week-long heatwave this time last year. Now the country is wallowing in a cold, rainy spell that shows no signs of abating.

Temperatures along the east coast on Wednesday are expected to reach highs of just 11 degrees as grey skies remain the norm across the country.

Unfortunately, there is no end in sight to the unsettled weather, says Met Éireann forecaster Liz Walsh.

The jet stream across the north Atlantic is blocked at present. A high pressure system is stuck over Iceland and eastern Greenland which is bringing a mini heatwave to Reykjavik.

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However, there is inclement weather either side of the high pressure system, including over Ireland.

Ms Walsh said Atlantic conditions at present can be described as an “Omega block” - a term in meterology which means that areas can have a prolonged period of weather where normal systems are disrupted. The block is named after the letter of the Greek alphabet, which the jet stream patterns resemble.

‘Stuck’

“The weather becomes slow moving and for us that means low pressure so we are stuck with low pressure. It will be the dominant theme over our weather over the next week or so,” she said.

The best that can be hoped for is that the cool showery conditions will give way to showery weather with temperatures closer to normal for this time of year.

The absence of the jet stream is feeding in cold northerly winds which pick up precipitation from the north Atlantic, hence the volume of rain.

More rain has fallen in Dublin in the first 12 days of June then it did in all of June and July last year.

It will remain cold for the time of year and rainy along the east coast on Wednesday and Thursday with slightly drier warmer conditions in the west, but temperatures will rise no higher than 16 degrees.

Friday will be more of the same and heavy showers will be commonplace on Saturday and Sunday. The best that can be hoped for is a slight rise in temperatures next week.