About
Climate
They say that you can experience all the different nuances of Irish weather in a day and fortunate or not, this is no exaggeration. The weather is variable throughout the year, which means that even in Dublin, one of the driest counties, you can expect rain 185 days in an average year (732.7mm of rain in total).
Like the Eskimos have many words for snow, the Irish have an extended vocabulary for the wet stuff that constantly puts a dampener on their day. Indeed, there are many things that the rain does in Ireland, but it rarely just ‘falls’. Sometimes it ‘spits’, ‘pours’, ‘lashes’, ‘drizzles’, ‘teems’ or ‘buckets it down’. And quite often, it is not really rain at all but ‘mizzle’, that soft drizzle that while visible, barely seems to have any effect when you pass through. This is what the Irish will often cheerfully refer to as ‘a fine Irish mist’ if you happen to complain that it is raining.
While it is rare you get soaked to the skin, it’s best to carry a brolly at all times – a sturdy one, mind you. After a particularly turbulent spell, you’ll see the remains of umbrellas that have become the victims of strong coastal winds all over the city.
On a more positive note, the good news is that Ireland should be a lot colder. The North Atlantic drift and the Gulf Stream keeps the climate a lot milder than its mere geographical location would dictate. With temperatures ranging from 2.5°C (January) to 18.9°C (July) in an average year, Ireland never really experiences any real heat or extreme cold. Yet, when the sun does come out and leads to a scorcher, the Irish certainly know how to appreciate it. Although June often has a good share of dry spells, a day when the sun is splitting the skies in Ireland is as predictable as Dublin buses – not very, in other words.
This doesn’t deter residents from engaging in amateur predictions or lengthy discussions though. Even before climate change made the weather the talk of the town around the globe, the moods of the heavens were already a favourite topic with the locals here. And who would blame them, where else do you get a ‘lá breá báistiúil’ – ‘a fine, rainy day?’
Like the Eskimos have many words for snow, the Irish have an extended vocabulary for the wet stuff that constantly puts a dampener on their day. Indeed, there are many things that the rain does in Ireland, but it rarely just ‘falls’. Sometimes it ‘spits’, ‘pours’, ‘lashes’, ‘drizzles’, ‘teems’ or ‘buckets it down’. And quite often, it is not really rain at all but ‘mizzle’, that soft drizzle that while visible, barely seems to have any effect when you pass through. This is what the Irish will often cheerfully refer to as ‘a fine Irish mist’ if you happen to complain that it is raining.
While it is rare you get soaked to the skin, it’s best to carry a brolly at all times – a sturdy one, mind you. After a particularly turbulent spell, you’ll see the remains of umbrellas that have become the victims of strong coastal winds all over the city.
On a more positive note, the good news is that Ireland should be a lot colder. The North Atlantic drift and the Gulf Stream keeps the climate a lot milder than its mere geographical location would dictate. With temperatures ranging from 2.5°C (January) to 18.9°C (July) in an average year, Ireland never really experiences any real heat or extreme cold. Yet, when the sun does come out and leads to a scorcher, the Irish certainly know how to appreciate it. Although June often has a good share of dry spells, a day when the sun is splitting the skies in Ireland is as predictable as Dublin buses – not very, in other words.
This doesn’t deter residents from engaging in amateur predictions or lengthy discussions though. Even before climate change made the weather the talk of the town around the globe, the moods of the heavens were already a favourite topic with the locals here. And who would blame them, where else do you get a ‘lá breá báistiúil’ – ‘a fine, rainy day?’
