Dullest October weather ever recorded at Malin Head, latest Met Eireann data shows

Inishowen reported the highest gust in the entire country last month, as well as its dullest October weather of all-time, the latest official data from Met Eireann has revealed.

There were just 36.2 hours of collective sunshine at Malin Head last month – an average of less than 1.2 hours per day – and that’s the lowest total ever recorded at Ireland’s most northerly weather station.

Inishowen also recorded the highest number of official ‘dull days’ in Ireland during October, with 17 days registering less than thirty minutes of sunshine, all of which added up to a very gloomy month.

It was a very stormy period too, with Malin Head reporting the highest gust in Ireland [80 knots] and the highest ten-minute wind speed [60 knots] during the violent red alert Storm Amy on Friday, October 3.

In all, Inishowen had gales on 8 different days during October, the most across all 25 weather stations in the Republic.

Despite the gloominess and blustery conditions, last month was very mild, with an average temperature of 11.4 degrees Celsius, which was the exact same as the average for the month of May here.

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Meanwhile, it was our wettest October for three years, with a total of 116.6 millimetres of rainfall. The two rainiest days by far were Thursday, October 2 [21.2mms] and Sunday, October 19 [21.4], while there were only three rain-free days.

In more evidence of global warming, the hottest day of last month was October 1st, when temperatures soared to a remarkable high of 18.6 degrees at Malin Head weather station, while the lowest reading was 6 degrees on the night of October 30.