It has been an incredibly sunless and soggy February, figures from the Met Office show.

Northern Ireland got barely more than a third of the sunshine it would normally expect for the month.

The Province overall saw more rain than is typical for February – and residents of Co Down have been treated to almost twice the amount they would normally expect.

In addition, the Met Office figures show that the whole winter, which officially ends on Sunday, was significantly wetter than average for the Province.

placeholder image — Waves break beneath gun-grey skies at Ballyholme Bay, Bangor, at the start of January; it has been a wet and extremely grey month for NI, figures show

Starting with sunshine, the Met Office today told the News Letter that the Province had got an average of 23.6 hours of sunshine this month.

That is just 35% of the 30-year average for the month, and looks set to be one of the dullest Februarys on record.

The greyest February on record in the Province was in 1993, when there was an average of just 24.6 hours of sunshine.

As for rainfall, the 30-year average for February in Northern Ireland is 91.5mm, and at time of writing today Northern Ireland had recorded an average of 115mm so far – which is 126% of the monthly average.

But the numbers vary vastly depending where you are.

Here is the breakdown of rainfall in February so far by county (with brackets showing the percentage above the county average):

Antrim: 104.7mm (+20%)

Armagh: 97.6mm (+37%)

Down: 150.6mm (+92%)

Fermanagh: 108.6mm (+5%)

Londonderry: 108.4mm (+13%)

Tyrone: 113.6mm (+10%)

Looking at the whole season in Northern Ireland, meteorogist Honor Criswick told the News Letter that 411.5mm fell on average – which is 126% of the winter average.

Again, Co Down was the most heavily-deluged during the whole season.

Total rainfall in Co Down during the winter, up until today, was 487.3mm, making it the county’s wettest since 2015.

Ms Criswick said: "This was in large part down to the fact that Co Down had its wettest January on record with 230.1mm.

"The previous wettest was 218mm, in 1948."

It was a long way from breaking Northern Ireland’s all-time record soggiest winter, though, which was in 1877, when an average of 527.8mm of rain fell across the Province.

How does Northern Ireland’s winter compare to other regions of the UK?

England had 38% more rainfall than average, and Wales 18% more, but Scotland had 15% less.

So what is in store for the Province?

The forecast is for today to start dry then turn cloudier in the afternoon as rain spreads eastwards, with a maximum temperature of 8C.

From Sunday to Tuesday it is expected to be “mostly cloudy, with outbreaks of rain on Sunday and Monday as winds strengthen, some drier and brighter intervals possible”, though a “drier Tuesday” is possible.

After that, the UK can expect to enjoy a high-pressure system, bringing better weather, especially towards the south / south-east of the British Isles.