Climate Statements for May and Spring 2019

May 2019: A dry month for most , near average temperatures

The first two days of May had slack westerly winds with patchy rain. For the rest of the first week, high pressure over Greenlandsteered down a cool, dry, polar maritime air mass over the country in a northerly airflow. The flow veered easterly for a time on the8th as a low pressure system moved eastwards to the south of Ireland. This brought bands of rain or showers over the country,some thundery, between the 7th and 10th. High pressure developed over Ireland from the 12th and moved towards Scandinavia,introducing a south-easterly airflow over the country. This brought a dry and settled spell of weather up to the 15th and it graduallywarmed up. The high pressure system moved further away to the north, introducing a cool, unstable easterly/north-easterly airflowbetween the 16th and 20th, which brought bands of rain or showers in from the east. A few dry days followed as a transient area ofhigh pressure passed over the country. The final week of the month was unsettled with Atlantic weather fronts bringing bands ofrain or showers, some thundery, interspersed with some dry pleasant weather in a westerly airflow. Full report <<here>>

Spring 2019: Wet and mild overall, cooler and drier May

A mobile westerly regime prevailed across the country for most of March with Atlantic low-pressure systems and associated fronts never toofar away. Storm Freya moved along the South coast of Ireland on the 3rd giving heavy falls of rain and snow in places. Storm Gareth, a deepAtlantic low-pressure system brought strong winds on the 12th and 13th. It settled down for the final third of the month with high pressurebuilding from the South, keeping it mostly dry. The first week of April saw low pressure move in from the northwest, introducing a cool, unstable air mass over the country. A Scandinavia high-pressure system brought mostly dry conditions for the second and third weeks, including the Easter weekend, in a mostly easterly airflow, apart from a few days between the 13th and 15th when Atlantic weather fronts pushed in and gave some heavy falls of rain. The month finished unsettled, with Storm Hannah bringing the windiest spell of the season on the 26th and 27th. The first week of May was mostly dry and cool in a slack northerly airflow. Low pressure to the south brought a few unsettled days between the 7th and 10th, but most of the second week was dry and settled with high pressure building over Ireland and moving towards Scandinavia. A cool unstable easterly airflow brought bands of rain or showers from the East between the 16th and 20th. It settled down again for a few days but the end of the month finished unsettled in a westerly airflow with Atlantic weather fronts crossing the country from time to time. Full report <<here>>