That unfamiliar liquid known as rain arrived back in the country on Monday, but its earlier absence gave us the driest September in 16 years. Alison Healy reports
We were even heading for a drought at one stage, with no rain recorded for 19 consecutive days in some parts of the country - in contrast to sustained heavy rainfall in many areas up to the early part of summer.
It was the warmest September in 31 years at Rosslare and the sunniest in six years, with 179 hours of sunshine recorded. On September 1st, the area enjoyed 12.6 hours of sunshine - its highest rate in 20 years.
The sunshine may have been missing during the summer, but it was possible to bask in its rays if you were in Birr, Co Offaly, on September 13th, when the month's highest temperature of 22.6 degrees was recorded. In contrast, the coldest day was recorded at Kilkenny last Wednesday, when temperatures fell to 1.4 degrees.
The east and south-east enjoyed some of the driest weather in September, according to Met Éireann. The weather stations at Rosslare, Co Wexford, and Casement Aerodrome in Dublin recorded no rainfall between September 10th and 28th.
Overall, there were only between two and nine wet days recorded last month, compared with the normal range of 11 to 17 wet days.
However, no weather station produced records to equal September 1986. In that year, some stations recorded no rain for the entire 30 days.
That may have made up for the previous month, when Hurricane Charlie inflicted itself on the country.
This year, the most rain fell in the south-west in September, with the highest monthly total recorded at Valentia Observatory in Kerry. Valentia also received the highest daily rainfall on September 11th, when 39 mm of rain fell.
Nor did the sun shine much on Monaghan in September. The weather station in Clones recorded the lowest monthly sunshine total of 116 hours - or less than four hours of sunshine a day.
The good weather helped grain farmers to salvage the harvest in what was facing up to be a disastrous summer.
Yields will still be considerably down on previous years because of the rain and lack of sun earlier this year.
However, the good weather in September allowed farmers to get the crops out of the ground. Farmers estimate prices are down 20 to 25 per cent this year.