Wet and warm 2014 gives contradictory feel to Irish spring

As is typical of Irish weather, spring was a month of contradictions, with wet and warm conditions vying to be the most notable of the 2014 season.

Met Éireann’s round-up of what it was like outside between March and May of this year showed that in many parts of the country we experienced the wettest and warmest conditions in quite a long time.

Seasonal rainfall totals recorded in weather stations across Ireland showed either near or above average levels, although analysts found that "most stations in the midlands, south and southwest reported their wettest spring in five to eight years".

That was especially the scenario at Casement Aerodrome in Dublin, which experienced its wettest overall spring since 1998. The single worst day of the month was recorded on Sherkin Island on the south coast on April 25th, with 25mm of rain.

As for temperatures, they were above normal everywhere for the three-month period, with averages up by 1.2 per cent in Dublin’s Phoenix Park alone.

"April and May reported on or above average mean temperatures, with March reporting above average temperatures nearly everywhere except at coastal stations in the west and southwest," Met Éireann reported.

The season’s highest maximum temperatures were recorded in May, with the warmest rising to 22.3 degrees at both Newport and Shannon.

Things could be a little on the dull side too. Knock Airport found its darkest spring since the station opened in 1996, recording 311 hours of sunshine. A few others sounded their worst for sunlight in 15 to 18 years.

The highest recorded long-term average was at Belmullet, with 470 hours. That station equalled its own record for the brightest single day by recording 15.5 hours, which matched the conditions experienced on the day it opened 48 years ago in 1966.

Meanwhile, statistics released for last month alone show there was above average levels of rainfall virtually everywhere except along the southern coast.

Temperatures were about average on the whole, although the midlands and south experienced their warmest May in six years.