Last month was the driest June for 10 years in most parts of the country, and the sunniest since the 1950s in some places.
According to Met Éireann's Monthly Weather Summary, issued yesterday, the month overall was drier, warmer and sunnier than normal across the country.
The dry and sunny weather of late May continued during early June, with little or no rainfall in most places: in some parts of Leinster and Munster there was no measurable rainfall for 21 consecutive days between May 28th and June 17th. It was the driest month since 1975 at Shannon airport and Clones, Co Monaghan.
Although the second half of June was more unsettled than the first, the number of wet days during the month (days with a millimetre or more of rainfall) varied between four and eight over most of the country, less than half the average for June.
The highest temperature of an unusually warm month was noted at Claremorris, Co Mayo, where 25.8 degrees on June 8th made it the warmest June day there since 1996.
The lowest air temperature was the 3.8 degrees recorded at Birr, Co Offaly, on the 23rd.
Across the country, average temperatures were between one and two degrees higher than normal, and it was the warmest June for at least 30 years at several weather stations, according to the report.
The month was also sunnier than normal, with Cork airport recording more sunshine (257 hours) than for any June since records began in 1962.
Overall, sunshine totals were between 10 per cent and 60 per cent above normal.
In Kilkenny, it was the sunniest June since 1959.