OCTOBER WAS A very dull month for the country, but Donegal was the county with a record-breaking lack of sunshine.

That’s according to Met Éireann’s climate statement for last month, which says Malin Head, the most northerly part of Ireland, had 17 dull days in the 31-day month.

Malin Head in Donegal also recorded the strongest winds. The highest 10-minute mean speed was 111km per hour, recorded on 3 October during Storm Amy.

Mean wind speeds reached storm force at two other stations: Belmullet in Co Mayo, and Mace Head in Co Galway.

Along with Malin Head, four other stations also recorded their highest 10-minute mean wind speed for October on record. These were Finner, Co Donegal (85 km/h), Knock Airport, Co Mayo (74 km/h), Athenry, Co Galway ( 61 km/h) and Ballyhaise, Co Cavan (59 km/h).

Following Storm Amy, high pressure brought two weeks of mild, cloudy and relatively dry weather.

However, rainfall was above average in most places, with Valentia, Co Kerry being the wettest. The daily average there was 48.1mm.

The month’s national gridded average rainfall of 159.2 mm ranked 23rd highest in the last 85 years.

October was also warmer than usual, with an average temperature of 11.61 degrees reported across the country.

That’s 1.02 degrees above the 1961-1990 Long-Term Average (LTA) and 0.82 degrees above the most recent 1991-2020 LTA.