What's the summer looking like?
We may not always like to admit it, but we did pretty well last summer as far as the weather was concerned. So are we set for a scorcher this year?
Well, in short, probably not – only because summers like that just aren’t that common in these parts. But all indications are that it won’t be too bad. "Changeable", as we're all far too used to saying.
Of course, long-range weather forecasting is hardly an exact science. Our own Met Éireann won’t predict more than five days in advance. The boffins at the UK’s Met Office the same.
They insist that you simply can’t predict the weather with sufficient certainty beyond that. They’re probably right of course, but where’s the fun in that?
So with that in mind, let’s look ahead to that this (probably) summer has in store for us.
There’s recently been some talk of
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The truth is … not a whole lot. Although there’s decent evidence to suggest it has a significant influence on places like Australia and South America, its effect on our summer weather isn’t as clear-cut.
Most believe that it leads to some degree of above-average temperatures but with more rain than normal, so time will tell on that one.
The good news from Accuweather.com is that temperatures are likely to start touching that all-important 20C mark from around Monday, May 25 onwards.
There may even be a bit of sunshine with it, just in time to enjoy the June Bank Holiday weekend festivities too!
They also say the above-average temperatures are set to stay for the first week or two in June, before a dip in temperatures and even some thunderstorms in the third week.
Netweather.tv concurs, saying that Ireland will be “slightly drier than average” and “sunnier than average” next month.
Accuweather is predicting a return to some warm sunshine in the final week, however.
Having a look at Theweatheroutlook.com’s long-range forecast from mid-June onwards makes for some pretty sobering reading though, with temperatures languishing around the mid-teens for most of the summer.
Around the middle of June and early August look to be the warmest periods so far. Elsewhere, there’s not much scorchers in sight, although there’s enough of those always-welcome sunshine graphics to offer some cheer.
For the optimists among us, Weathergossip.com is definitely the place to go, with their predictions of some baking-hot temperatures.
With May becoming “more unsettled with showers”, things begin to look up in June with “a few warmer and sunnier days especially in the East and the South”.
Temperatures are forecast to climb up to 22C, although we look to be in store for “some quite heavy showers” too.
July could see “a number of wet days” as well, the site states, but it expects temperatures to hit sweltering highs of 25C.
Enjoy it while it lasts thought, as they’re set to dip back to the 14-18C range in August with “wet and windy [weather] later in the month”.
Perhaps the most well-known of the long-range weather sages is Ken Ring.
Speaking to
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The best temperatures could come in August, which Ring says “may be a notably warm month for all”.
It’s not all good news of course, as the presenter for Australia’s Channel Seven Network says we can also expect some pretty heavy rainfall on the “third week and the end of June, the first and fourth weeks in July, and the first and third weeks in August”.
Finally, we come to Metcheck.com, and it doesn’t make for very pleasant reading. Eight days without rain in June might not seem that great, but compare that with three in July and two in August.
There are at least a few spots of warm weather to look forward to, with sizzling highs of 27C in late July and temperatures doggedly staying above the 20C mark for the first third of August.
So there you have it - not too bad, not too good. But least when someone says "that's our summer over, then" there should actually be another pretty nice day in store before too long.
