2022 was provisionally Ireland’s warmest year since records began in 1900, according to Met Éireann.

Looking back on this year’s weather, the national meteorological service said that with an average temperature of just over 10.8°C, 2022 is provisionally the warmest year on record for Ireland.

2022 is also the 12th consecutive year above normal temperature in Ireland, with 21 of the 22 years this century all being above normal.

In a year of record-breaking extreme weather across the world, and Europe recording its hottest summer ever, in Ireland the all-time highest maximum temperature records for July and August were broken this year.

Temperatures hit 33.0°C the Phoenix Park on Monday 18 July (which is 12.9°C above its 1981-2010 long-term average (LTA)) , and 32. 1°C in Durrow, Co. Laois on Saturday 13 August.

Along with the Phoenix Park on Monday 18th July, eight other stations across the country reported their highest daily maximum temperature for any month on record.

In Cork, August 2022 was the warmest August since 1995 according to temperatures at Cork Airport, and the warmest August since records began at Roches Point 18 years ago.

During the August heatwave between Tuesday 9th and Sunday 14th, Cork Airport recorded its highest August temperature peak in 60 years, at 28.3°C, and in Moore Park a temperature of 30.6°C broke the station’s all-time maximum temperature record, held for 35 years.

In terms of rainfall, 2022 was overall drier than average, with a drier than average spring and summer and wetter than average autumn and winter.

Met Eireann have said that latest Irish climate change projections indicate further warming in the future, drier summers on average and an increased chance of heatwaves and periods of drought. The weather service adds that while climate change projections also indicate a trend toward warmer winters, cold periods like those experienced this December cannot be ruled out in any particular year.

Keith Lambkin, the Head of Met Éireann’s Climate Services Division said that climate change has changed the odds of getting more frequent, more extreme heat-related events.

“Thanks to over a century of dedicated weather observations here in Ireland, we know that 2022 brought us record-breaking extremes as well as what is likely to be the warmest year on Irish record,” he said.

“It is essential that we must continue to adapt to ensure our national infrastructures and planning are best suited to both current and future warming,” he added.