Met Éireann says July was among ‘hottest, driest and sunniest months on record’

July was “one of the hottest, driest and sunniest months on record for Ireland”, Met Éireann has said. In its Climate Statement for last month, the forecaster said it was the second-hottest July since 1900 and the driest on record, with many stations seeing records broken. The national mean temperature for last month was 17.25 degrees, second only to July 2013 when there was a mean temperature of 17.34 degrees. It was also the third-hottest month on record, with the 17.75 degrees recorded in August 1995 remaining in top spot.Johnstown Castle in Co Wexford had 332.4 hours of sunshine last month, making it the driest and sunniest month there on record. It also provisionally broke the national record for the sunniest month on record. The previous record was 308.2 hours at Valentia, Co Kerry in July 1955.READ MOREProvisional gridded rainfall for Ireland shows last month was the driest July on record, with 16mm, or 17 per cent, of the 1991-2020 long-term average.In the south and east of the country, eight weather stations recorded their warmest July on record.Of those, four stations, Cork Airport (18.5 degrees mean temperature), Moore Park (18.8 degrees), Phoenix Park, Dublin (18.2 degrees) and Casement, Dublin (18.0 degrees) had their warmest month on record. Phoenix Park reported 36 consecutive days with maximum daily temperatures above 20 degrees between June 30th and August 3rd, surpassing the previous record of 34 days at Shannon Airport set in July/August 1995. The park’s previous record was 27 days in July 1989. The month’s lowest temperatures were recorded on Friday, July 31st. The lowest air minimum of 5.1 degrees was reported at Mullingar, Co Westmeath, and the lowest grass minimum of 0.7 degrees was reported at Dunsany, Co Meath. The highest maximum temperature (30.0 degrees) was reported on July 12th at Valentia Observatory in Co Kerry, the station’s highest temperature on record. There was no air or ground frost reported during the month. Heatwaves were reported at seven stations between July 5th and July 17th, lasting between five and 13 days. Oak Park in Co Carlow, with 12 days, broke its previous longest heatwave record, set in 2018, by one day. Moore Park, Co Cork, with 13 days, broke its previous longest heatwave record, set in July 2021, by three days. Moore Park also had the second-longest heatwave on record for Ireland, behind the 14 days set in Birr, Co Offaly, and Ballybrittas, Co Laois, in August 1976.Met Éireann said July was “exceptionally warm, dry and sunny”, adding that it was dominated by high pressure.It said Atlantic weather fronts were kept away to the north and west for most of the month and any fronts that did encroach brought some cloud and rain, mostly to the north and west, but it stayed predominantly dry elsewhere. All monthly rainfall totals across the country were below their 1991-2020 long-term average. Percentage of monthly rainfall values ranged from one per cent at Cork Airport (1.1mm) and Moore Park (1.1mm) to 72 per cent (61.5mm) at Malin Head, Co Donegal. A total of 17 weather stations had their driest July on record.Of those, Cork Airport (1.1 mm), Moore Park (1.1 mm), Oak Park, Co Carlow (1.5 mm) and Johnstown Castle (1.5 mm) had their driest month on record.Monthly sunshine totals ranged from 133.7 hours at Malin Head, Co Donegal, to 332.4 hours at Johnstown Castle. Cork Airport also had its sunniest month on record, with 315.1 hours.