Summer 2024 - General Discussion

Thanks for this - i feel like im going insane when i hear people talking about the lovely lockdown summer 2020 - it was the SPRING that was nice, definitely not the summer….

I'm sure I'm not making it up. North Wicklow here. Definitely remember lots of sunny days, and the ground yellow or maybe I'm thinking 2019. But I do remember a couple of good summers recently, but not last summer, were it has been raining since end of June and the weather has been crap since.

Yeah that's how I remember it. It was dry and bright from Feb to May and everyone was out walking and cycling and avoiding! In fairness it was a lovely few months and helped take the edge off the Covid chaos.

The constant breeze is really starting to grate

Don’t know how any businesses involved in the tourism trade are making any money between last years miserable summer and this one shaping up to be as bad. We had two very pleasant COVID summers in 2020 and 2021. Spent a week down in west Cork in 2021 and it was glorious. Would love to do it again but holidaying here is too much of a gamble with the weather.

It was a wonderful time to be alive. I did not care for all the Covid chaos until the following winter when it did get tedious and we didn't have the fantastic weather that time. I was firmly enjoying the weather for every moment it brought knowing we'd pay the price at some point. Spring 2020 was both sunnier and drier than any other season I've seen in my lifetime to date since 2000. I have never done as many walks as I did then. If December 2010 didn't exist, May 2020 would be my favourite month and would probably go unbeaten. The frequency of blue skies, thanks to a combination of low humidity easterly winds, high pressure (although average pressure wasn't actually that anomalous to the norm) and a reduction in commercial flights which is related to the low humidity before anyone gets any ideas, was outstanding.

Granted, as you've noted before, I try and make the most of whatever does happen regardless. No use harping on all the time. I did this all July 2019 getting disappointed over the Met forecast consistently saying how skies will brighten up but reality was hazy. Some posters will remember my incessant moaning that summer on here. It was still mostly dry, warm and calm which I would kill for now.

You are correct with that memory. 2nd June started off sunny and very warm, in fact it was the warmest day of the year here on the east coast with the easterly breeze gone. But by the afternoon, high cloud approached from the northwest as a change on the weather front started to occur. It didn't immediately go into deluge territory, that took a little bit but it turned much cooler. In fact, on the 1st June, it reached above 27C in Mayo. By the 6th, places were struggling in the 11-13C range in a northerly flow. Days as cool as that actually happen most Junes for at least a day or two but the contrast was stark nonetheless coming from that noteworthy warm spell in late May/early June.

Then (hysterically) Irish Water issued a 6-week hosepipe ban on 9th June. June 2020 wasn't a complete disaster, we had a few fine moments but the final few days following a thunderstorm on the 25th/26th (which some compared to July 1985 preluding it and let's be honest those comparisons were doomed to fail) really set the scene leading into the write off summer until mid-September when we finally broke into some fine weather. Yes the second week of August had some good weather for the south of the country and parts of the west but was very disappointing here with low cloud due to the high humid nature of the airmass that sparked severe thunderstorm activity across the Irish Sea. And we had two named storms then… in August 🤨 both Ellen (a windstorm) and Francis (a rainstorm) to add insult to injury.

Lovely sunset in Dublin just a few minutes ago.

so after all that it turns out that the lockdown summers weren’t very good weather wise! I didn’t remember much about them but I certainly don’t remember the glorious weather some alluded to.

Was in Dublin earlier was Nice and mild but back in carrick and its so cold 🥶 although here's hoping mid July onwards will be warmer there are faint signs of it

Ireland '20 times more likely' to reach 33C - research - RTÉ headline this morning. When Ireland is experiencing a cold and dull summer. Who decided this was a good headline idea today. Of course climate change is a problem but it’s not affecting Ireland like elsewhere except for more rain maybe? When was the last actual heatwave in Ireland as defined by Met Eireann? 2022?

this morning I am glad we have a holiday booked abroad.

Another dull start

Funnily enough my parents are not far from your username as we speak. Glorious blue skies and low 30's

God lads, I'm sitting on an knife edge as regards my wedding on the 8th of July. Was hoping for an outdoor ceremony as we have a big country house taken with walled gardens etc. There's certainly no settled sunny weather forecast so all as I am hoping for is ridge to build for the day. Mt was giving a washout for Monday 8th yesterday but latest guidance has this on Sunday. I have everything crossed at this stage.