Ireland’s weather organisation's examination of the climatic averages from 1991 to 2020, the countries average annual air temperature is 9.8 degrees, up 0.7 degrees over the preceding 30-year period.

The forecaster claims that as compared to the years 1961 to 1990, the number of hours of sunshine per year has grown by around 5%. The hottest month of the year is stated as May, followed by June.

Rainfall in the nation has increased by 7% during the last 30 years, with an average annual total of 1,288mm. According to Met Éireann, there are regional variances, with the west and north of the nation showing the biggest increases in yearly rainfall.

Mary Curley, Met Éireann climatologist said: “We know that the atmosphere is warming and what we’re seeing at the local and national scale fits the international picture.”

“Importantly, the data provides information about typical climate conditions for a particular location and is a crucial benchmark for weather and climate conditions. This serves as an important resource for Government and relevant stakeholders to enable informed decision-making to benefit society.

“While these averages give us an up-to-date baseline to compare our current and future weather to, it’s important to remember that weather patterns can vary significantly from year to year.”

Every ten years, Met Éireann calculates and revises Ireland's 30-year climatic averages. The forecaster claims that the spring season had the most temperature increase of 0.8 degrees in its average yearly temperature from 1991 to 2020. Every month of the year had a rise in mean temperatures, with May seeing the biggest increase of 1 degree and October seeing the smallest increase of 0.2 degrees.

In all, there were 63 more yearly sunlight hours between 1991 and 2020 compared to the preceding 30 years, a 5% increase. May has an average of 189.6 hours of sunlight whereas December has an average of 44.1 hours. May is also the sunniest month of the year.

With an average of 256mm of rainfall in the spring and 282mm in the summer over the most recent 30-year period, the spring was drier than the summer. The average yearly rainfall increased in every area of the nation. There was an increase in rainfall of 3-6% in the east while 6-12% more rain fell in the west and north of the nation.

Later this year, Met Éireann has announced that it would publish a thorough technical analysis on the 30-year averages from 1991 to 2020.