NI weather: Dullest July since ‘86 follows record spring

Figures from Armagh Planetarium and the Met Office showed just how deprived Northern Ireland was of sunshine last month.

It was a stark contrast to the record-breaking sunny spells experienced during March, April and May.

The Met Office said this July was the second dullest on record, while Armagh Planetarium, where records go back further, said it was the fourth dullest on record.

Met Office meteorologist Bonnie Diamond said: “July 2020 was in fact the second dullest July on record for Northern Ireland as a whole, with just 83 total sunshine hours.

“The current dullest July on record is July 1986 with 82.8 total sunshine hours, so not far off the mark at all.

“This is quite interesting especially following the sunniest spring on record for NI – it’s quite a contrast.”

She said that July was also wetter than average, with nearly a month-and-a-half’s worth of rain falling over the course of the month.

She added: “Although July was cooler than average and quite wet, it didn’t come close to record breaking for these weather elements – just for sunshine amounts.”

Armagh Observatory reported that it was the dullest July at Armagh since 1986, and cooler and wetter than average.

The average temperature was 14.65 degrees Celsius, approximately 0.2 degrees cooler than the long-term (1796-2010) average July temperature at Armagh and nearly 1.1 degrees cooler than the most recent (1981-2010) 30-year July average.

Total July precipitation was 85.05 mm, approximately 15% more than the long-term average and 36% more than the 30-year average.

This was the dullest July at Armagh for 34 years, and the fourth dullest July at Armagh since daily sunshine records began at the observatory in April 1880.

The three cloudier Julys at Armagh are 1957 (65 hours of strong sunshine), 1986 (76.2 hours) and 1931 (81.1 hours).

Statistics for March, April and May showed the sunniest meteorological spring recorded by Armagh Observatory since it began monitoring sunshine 140 years ago.

A total of 567 hours of “strong sunshine” were recorded by the observatory from March 1 to May 31.

It was also the driest spring recorded in 150 years at the observatory.

The Armagh Observatory has been recording weather statistics since 1795 and began monitoring sunshine in 1880.

Met Office temperature records generally go back to 1910 although earlier records exist for some parts of the UK.