IT HASN’T BEEN much of a summer – and some areas of the country experienced the coldest July for almost 50 years, according to figures from Met Éireann.

Most parts of Ireland had temperatures 0.5°C to 1°C below average, while the weather station at Dublin Airport showed its coolest July readings for 46 years with a mean air temperature of just 13.8°C. Meanwhile a reading taken at Casement Aerodrome outside Dublin was the lowest in July for the last 27 years, and Cork Airport had its lowest since 1965.

The month’s highest temperature of 24.4°C was recorded in Carlow on July 27.

Unsurprisingly, there was also less sunshine than usual across the country – except for the West, which bucked the trend. However, there was some good news: it was the driest July since 2005 in many parts of the country, and the driest for 12 years at Cork Airport.

A spokesperson for Met Éireann told TheJournal.ie that it was too early to confirm reports this morning that our summer has been the coldest for 50 years, as summer does not officially finish until the end of August. But as we’ve seen before, that can be a controversial issue.

Read more: Summer, it’s literally not what it used to be >