It may not have felt like it, but summer was warmer than average - with parts of the country basking in their hottest August in 15 years.
But there was no escape from the downpours as rainfall levels were also well above average throughout the season, according to Met Eireann’s summer weather report.
The best of the warm and sunny weather was found in the east, as the Phoenix Park in Dublin saw its warmest August since 2004 with an average temperature of 16.2C.
Casement in Co Dublin recorded its sunniest August since 2003, with more than 190 hours of summer sunshine across the month.
However the hottest day of the summer was recorded in the west, as the mercury rose to a sweltering 28.4C in Shannon Airport on July 27.
But despite the unusually warm temperatures, there was also a higher than average rainfall in many areas over the last three months.
Dublin and Carlow escaped the worst of the wet weather but were still treated to 49 days of rain, while rain fell on 67 days in Belmullet, Co Mayo.
Newport in Mayo was also treated to a weekend washout at the end of last month, experiencing its wettest August day in more than 20 years on the 30th.
Ireland largely escaped the sizzling temperatures found in western Europe this summer as heatwaves repeatedly swept across the continent.
Weather experts explained that we were on the edge of these “plumes” of hot air, while still being affected by the Atlantic, leading to more unsettled conditions than most of Europe.
A Met Eireann forecaster said: “One repeating pattern of the summer, which reoccurred in the final quarter of each of the three summer months, was plumes of hot air being drawn northwards in a southerly airflow over Western Europe for several days each time giving record high temperatures to many parts of Western Europe.
“Ireland was on the western edge of these plumes of hot air to varying degrees, while still being influenced by low pressure in the Atlantic.
“There were several warm days and nights during each event before Atlantic weather fronts encroached from the west, bringing unsettled weather back across the island.”
Weather experts also revealed a “notable” number of lightning strikes were detected in the space of six days between the 4th and 12th of August.
