Met Eireann has said September 2024 was the coldest September in six years.
The forecaster said that the warmest September on record was in 2021 with an average temperature of 15.17C and the coldest one was in 1918 with an average temperature of 10.94C.
The meteorological agency recorded the average national temperature for September 2024 at 13.18C, 0.42 below the 1991-2020 long-term average and 0.22 below the 1981- 2010 long-term average.
The month of September was also confirmed to be the second driest month of the year so far after June 2024 which saw 20.8 mm of rain.
The first week was recorded as being both rainier and colder than usual. The second week saw rain, showers and the first air of frost of Autumn on Friday, September 13, at Mount Dillon, Co Roscommon.
It was first recorded at 5 am when minimum air temperature fell -0.8C. This is the second year in a row that Mount Dillion has recorded the first frost.
During the third week of September, the climate was dry and sunny but saw some brief spells of wet and windy weather. The report said that the month of September was cool and dry overall although conditions varied considerably throughout the month from region to region.
The north and west saw the driest and sunniest conditions while the south and east saw higher rates of rain, wind and cloud.
“Nearly all rainfall totals were below their 1981-2010 Long-Term Average (LTA) for the month with the lowest rainfall seen at Mace Head, Co Galway with 17.2 mm to 108.4 mm at Johnstown Castle, Co Wexford”, the forecaster said.
The highest daily rainfall total was 51.3 mm at Cork Airport, Co Cork on Sunday 29 (its highest daily fall in September since 1965).
Temperature wise, most air temperatures across the country were below their usual seasonal average with the warmest conditions being reported in the southwest and the coolest recorded in the east.
The county that saw the most sunshine was Co Mayo with Belmullet getting up to 12.7 hours of sunshine on Thursday, September 5.
