Malin Head battered by Ireland's strongest winds during stormy October
Last month was Inishowen’s wettest and windiest of 2026 so far
Malin Head was the stormiest place in Ireland last month, recording the country's highest wind gusts on two separate days as Storm Boelo brought severe gales to Inishowen.
Met Éireann figures for October show that Malin Head recorded a maximum gust of 73 knots (135km/h) on both Saturday, October 24 and Sunday, October 25, during Storm Boelo.
The Inishowen weather station also recorded the highest 10-minute mean wind speed anywhere in the country, reaching 56 knots (104km/h) on Saturday, October 24.
Storm-force winds were recorded at Malin Head and Finner in Co Donegal, as well as Mace Head in Galway, on October 24, with Malin Head and Finner again experiencing storm-force conditions the following day.
Gusts exceeding 36 knots (67km/h) were recorded at Malin Head on 12 different days during the month, underlining what was an exceptionally unsettled period for Inishowen.
It was also an exceptionally wet month, with 140.5mm of rainfall recorded at Malin Head, making October the wettest month of 2026 so far, easily surpassing January's 110.1mms and September's 103.7mms.
The October rainfall total was also significantly above the long-term average of 110.3mm for the month, with almost 30mm more rain than would normally be expected.
Temperatures, meanwhile, were relatively mild, with an average of 11.4 degrees Celsius, comfortably above the long-term October average of 10.9 degrees.
Indeed, October was marginally warmer on average than May in Inishowen, when the mean temperature was 11.3 degrees.
The highest temperature recorded at Malin Head was 18.3 degrees on October 12, while the lowest was 3.4 degrees on the night of October 18.
There was little consolation in the sunshine figures, with six days during October recording no sunshine whatsoever.
The brightest day was Sunday, October 18, when Inishowen enjoyed 9.2 hours of sunshine, a daily total that is unlikely to be matched again until next May.
Overall, October proved to be a particularly wild, wet and windy month for Ireland's most northerly weather station, with Malin Head bearing the brunt of some of the country's most severe weather.