With an average temperature of just over 10.8°, 2022 is provisionally the warmest year on record for Ireland, national weather forecaster Met Éireann has said.
This year has seen record-breaking extreme weather across the world, with Europe recording its hottest ever summer and Ireland’s temperatures agree with this warming trend.
Set to be the warmest year since 1900, 2022 is expected to be ahead of the previous warmest years recorded in 1945 and 2007, according to the national forecaster.
2022 is also the 12th consecutive year above normal temperature in Ireland, with 21 of the 22 years this century all being above normal.
Temperature record
The all-time highest maximum temperature records for July and August were also broken this year. 33.0° were recorded in Phoenix Park on Monday, July 18, which is 12.9° above its 1981-2010 long-term average.
In Durrow, Co. Laois a record temperature of 32.1° was recorded on Saturday, August 13, according to Met Éireann.
Along with the Phoenix Park on July 18, eight other stations reported their highest daily maximum temperature for any month on record. These were:
- Casement Aerodrome, Co. Dublin (length 58 years) with 31.9°;
- Mount Dillon, Co. Roscommon (length 14 years) with 31.4°;
- Gurteen, Co. Tipperary (length 14 years) with 31.0°;
- Ballyhaise, Co. Cavan (length 17 years) with 30.8°;
- Athenry, Co. Galway (length 12 years) with 30.5°;
- Dunsany, Co. Meath (length 48 years) with 30.5°;
- Mullingar, Co. Westmeath (length 72 years) with 30.4°;
- Dublin Airport, Co. Dublin (length 80 years) with 29.6°;
- Shannon Airport, Co. Clare (length 76 years) with 30.8°.
However, the forecaster also said that the lowest daily air temperature at its synoptic stations was -8.8° at Mount Dillon, Co. Roscommon on Friday, December 16, which is 10.9° below its long-term average.
As for rainfall, there was a lot of variability in rainfall across the months this year, with a drier-than-average spring and summer, and a wetter-than-average autumn and winter 2021/2022.
January, July, August and December were unusually dry months, while February and October were unusually wet months. The wettest day of 2022 was September 3.
The sunniest day was recorded on August 9, where all stations recorded over 11 hours of bright sunshine. In contrast, both January 10 and October 4 recorded just 0.1 hours of sunshine.
Climate Change
While Ireland’s warming trend continues with 2022, and we are warming in line with the global average, other countries are warming at a greater rate than Ireland, the forecaster said.
The head of Met Éireann’s climate services division, Keith Lambkin said: “Climate change has changed the odds of getting more frequent, more extreme heat related events.
“It is essential that we must continue to adapt to ensure our national infrastructures and planning are best suited to both current and future warming.”
The latest Irish climate change projections indicate further warming in the future, drier summers on average and an increased chance of heatwaves and periods of drought.
While climate change projections also indicate a trend towards warmer winters, cold periods like those experienced this December cannot be ruled out in any particular year, the forecaster said.