LAST MONTH WAS THE warmest January in two decades in some parts of the country, according to data recorded at Ireland’s weather stations and released today by Met Éireann.
The weather service says that in general, the warmest areas were the west and southwest, where stations reported their warmest January temperatures since 2007 and 2002 respectively.
While both minimum and maximum air temperatures recorded during January were above normal, Sherkin Island in Co Cork recorded its warmest January minimum temperature since 1990 with 2.5C.
The month’s highest temperature of 13.1C was recorded at Shannon Airport on 3 January.
However, while temperatures were above normal, so too were rainfall levels as a high-than-average amount of rain fell almost everywhere except in the south of the country.
And although it was warmer than usual, it was also darker than usual as sunshine levels were below normal at almost all weather stations, reporting it as the dullest January in up to 29 years in places.
Valentia Observatory in Co Kerry recorded the highest total rainfall for January (at 156.7mm) and the lowest monthly sunshine total (21.9 hours) – its dullest January since 1983.
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