It may have seemed like a washout summer but Met Eireann data has confirmed that summer 2024 wasn’t actually the wettest in recent history.
Provisional gridded rainfall data suggests that summer 2024 saw an average rainfall total of 237 mm, which was 39% drier than summer 2023.
The average national temperature for summer 2024 was 14.50 °C, which is the coldest since summer 2015.
However, the average national temperature for summer 2024 is 0.25 °C above the 1961-1990 long-term average.
Sunshine values varied across the country, and seasonal sunshine totals were lowest at Malin Head with 391.7 hours.
Met Eireann says that several arctic blasts from the north in early June set the scene for what turned out to be the first cooler than average season since spring 2021. June and July were dry and cool months. A northerly airflow from the Arctic dominated the first half of the June, while Atlantic westerlies took control for the second half of the month.
August saw low pressure to the north and northwest and high pressure to the south and southeast for most of the month. This setup brought the bulk of the rainfall to the West and Northwest of the country and kept these regions cool, while the South and East experienced a drier and warmer month.
