IT IS UNSEASONABLY cold today, with the lowest temperature of 1.8 degrees recorded in Claremorris, Co Mayo this morning and unfortunately it looks set to remain chilly for the next week or so.  

Linda Hughes, a forecaster with Met Éireann, explained that while it is colder than usual today for this time of year, June has seen lower temperatures in the past. The lowest ever June temperature recorded was -3.3 degrees. 

“It’s not the coldest we’ve ever had so it’s not completely out of the ordinary, to get cold nights in June if the skies are kind of clear and we’re in this cold air mass that’s coming down from the north.”

Based on records from 1981 to 2010, Hughes said that the lowest average temperature that forecasters expect to see in June is around 9 to 11 degrees. 

Today’s cool temperatures are the result of a low pressure system to the east and high pressure to the west which is sending cold air down from the Arctic, Hughes told The Journal. 

“Now the wind direction is changing today, so it is changing to southwesterly, so we’re moving away from that coldest air that’s been coming down, but we’re not really going to see too much of an improvement in temperatures over the next week,” she said.

“In the next seven days or so, the temperatures aren’t going to improve drastically, so kind of staying one or two degrees below normal for the next week. 

“We’re not going to see really any kind of hot temperatures for the next week.”