MORE rain fell in some places in Ireland in the first five days of this month than in the whole of August last year. The heavy rainfall signals a return to normal Irish weather patterns after last year's hot summer, according to Met Eireann.
Donegal has suffered most from the recent bad weather. The rainfall level reached 41 mm at Malin Head in the first five days of the month, compared to 13.3 mm throughout August last year.
A spokesman for the Meteorological Service Climatology and Observations Division, said high levels of rainfall in August are not unusual.
"The Irish climate is variable and can change easily. You get good months and bad months. We had an exceptional summer last year what we are now seeing is a return to normal Irish weather patterns."
Cork Airport recorded 38.2 mm of rainfall in the first five days of this month. This represents a sharp increase on August, 1995, when only 11.5 mm fell in the 31 days.
At Clones, there was 35.5 mm of rain in the first five days of the month, more than three times as much as in the whole month last year when the level reached only 11.3 mm. In Mullingar, there was 22.9 mm in the opening five days of the month this year. Only 6.8 mm of rain fell in the area during the whole month last year.
At Dublin Airport, 8.8 mm of rainfall was recorded in the first five days of the month. Last year's records show that 7.2 mm fell in the entire month.