Met Éireann data shows 2023 is the warmest year on record and a year of firsts for Ireland

Published 10 am Thursday 28th December 2023

It is expected that 2023 will be the warmest year on record for Ireland, beating the previous warmest year of 2022. For the first time, Ireland’s annual average temperature is greater than 11°C (record length 124 years). 2022 was the previous warmest year on record at nearly 10.9°C, narrowly beating 2007 by just 0.1°C.

Keith Lambkin, Head of Climate Services at Met Éireann says “Ireland has seen a remarkable year with rainfall and warming at unprecedented levels at times. These record-breaking extremes have knock-on consequences to much of society. Past weather events are no longer a reliable indicator of future weather events, but knowing this allows us to better plan and adapt to our changing climate.”

Summary:

• 2023 was the warmest year on record for Ireland (record length 124 years).
• For the first time, Ireland’s average annual temperature rises above 11°C.
• 2023 saw the warmest June on record.
• 2023 saw the wettest March and the wettest July on record.
• For the first time in 23 years, four months of the year were within their top 5 warmest months on record (average stays between one and two months every year since the year 2000).

Figure 1. Island of Ireland annual average temperature anomalies (1961-1990 Long-Term Average) 1900 to 2023

During the year we saw the following:

• January 2023 observed the lowest temperature of the year with -7.2°C on Tuesday 17 January at Lullymore Nature Centre, Co Kildare.
• February 2023 was ranked 5th mildest and 6th driest February.
• March 2023 was the wettest March on record.
• April 2023 saw storm Noa brought storm force winds and waves to up 17.3 m on the Kerry and Cork coast.
• May 2023 was ranked 2nd warmest May.
• June 2023 became the warmest June on record with above 16°C average temperatures for the first time.
• July 2023 was the wettest July on record and wettest month of 2023.
• Significant flooding during storm Betty occurred in August.
• September 2023 was the 3rd warmest September with rare September heatwaves and the highest temperature of the year with 29.1°C on Friday 8th September 2023 at Lullymore Nature Centre, Co Kildare.
• October 2023 was the 2nd wettest month of year. Cork Airport recorded its highest October rainfall ever, with 222% of October’s 1981-2020 long-term average. Storm Babet caused significant flooding.
• November saw more rainfall and flooding.
• Eleven named storms during the year, and three named storms in December – Elin, Fergus and Gerrit.

Did you know?
It has been over a century since the coldest March (1919), April (1922), May (1923), July (1922), August (1912), September (1918) and November (1919).

Since 2000, on average, one or two months of the year have recorded their top five warmest temperatures. For example in 2022 we had two months within their top 5 warmest. However in 2023, four months reached a “top five warmest on record”: February (5th warmest), May (2nd warmest), June (warmest ever) and September (3rd warmest).

For the first time in a single year since 1941, two months observed their wettest on record, March and July.

Figure 2. 2023 monthly rainfall anomalies (% of 1981-2010) together with monthly rainfall totals

The Provisional 2023 Past Weather and Climate Statement on the primary (synoptic) weather station network will be published on www.met.ie/climate/past-weather-statements on Thursday 4^th January 2024. Highlights include:

• 24 out of 25 synoptic stations are having their warmest year on record. Only Sherkin Island, Co Cork had a slightly warmer year in 2007.
• 22 out of 25 stations have already had over 100% of their 1981-2010 Long-Term Average rainfall. The remaining stations are Mace Head, Co Galway, Finner, Co Donegal and Belmullet, Co Mayo.