Met Éireann has indicated that last month was among the “top ten” wettest months of March on record.
Sea surface temperatures over the North Atlantic have also been at record high levels now for over a year.
As RTÉ News reports, data due to be published by Met Éireann on Wednesday (April 3) will show that some areas of the island had rainfall over 200 per cent above normal.
However, according to climatologist Paul Moore, it was not as wet as March 2023. Moore said most of the precipitation was in the south and east, and there was 145% of “long-term average rainfall.”
The difference between this March and March 2023 is that "February 2023 was a very dry month”, unlike the very wet February this year.
He said that Dublin Airport had 219% of its long-term average for March, Phoenix Park 211% and Valentia Observatory in Kerry had 193% of its long-term average.
Kerry would have had its wettest March since 1963, he noted.
Rainfall had been "above-average” since June 2023, while temperatures for March were above average and sunshine values below average.
This means there is less drying, and farmers are facing a fodder crisis.
The higher sea temperatures over the past year would contribute more moisture into the atmosphere, he noted.
Read RTÉ News here
