IT was the warmest month of September in the 71 years since records have been kept at Shannon, according to Met Éireann.
Shannon had a mean temperature for the month of 15.7 degrees, the joint highest in Ireland. This temperature was 1.5 degrees above Shannon’s long term average.
On September 7 a temperature of 27.9 degrees was recorded, the hottest ever seen at Shannon during any month of September since records began.
Shannon was the joint warmest weather station in Ireland during the month, but it was exceptionally warm all over Ireland, with eight other stations having their warmest ever September.
Records have been kept at the Phoenix Park in Dublin for 122 years and it was the warmest ever September there.
In a report published earlier this year Met Éireann found that the annual average surface air temperature in Ireland has increased by more than 0.9 degrees celsisus in the last 120 years, with a rise in temperatures being observed in all seasons.
It also found that annual precipitation was 6% higher in the period 1989-2018 compared to 1961-1990.
It also forecast that warming is likely to increase with projections indicating a rise of 1–1.6°C in mean annual temperatures, the largest increases expected in the east of the country.
Warming is enhanced for the extremes (i.e. hot or cold days), with highest daytime temperatures projected to rise by 0.7–2.6°C in summer and lowest night-time temperatures to rise by 1.1–3°C in winter.
Averaged over the whole country, the number of frost days (days when the minimum temperature is less than 0°C) is projected to decrease by 50% for the medium-low emission scenario and 62% for the high-emission scenario.
The projections indicate an average increase in the length of the growing season by mid-century of 35 and 40 days per year for the medium-low emission and high-emission scenarios, respectively..
“Milder winters will, on average, reduce the cold related mortality rates among the elderly and frail but this may be offset by increases due to heat stress in the warmer summers,” Met Eireann stated.
While temperatures were extremely high at Shannon last month, it wasn’t particularly dry, with the amount of rainfall just 5% below its long term average.
Owen Ryan has been a journalist with the Clare Champion since 2007, having previously worked with a number of other publications in Limerick, Cork and Galway. His first book will be published in December 2024.