Malin Head sees highest sunshine and winds in 2023

The weather station at Malin Head recorded the highest daily sunshine and highest average annual wind speed in Ireland in 2023.

Met Éireann’s climate statement shows that sunshine levels were up at all weather stations in the country but twelve stations also had their wettest July on record.

The report for 2023 shows that the Malin Head weather station had the highest average wind speed for the year. The mean wind speed recorded at Malin Head for 2023 was 14.6 knots, which equates to 27km/h.

Overall, 2023 was 1.6 degrees warmer than the long term average – and 0.3 degrees warmer than 2022.

The highest number of daily sunshine hours recorded last year was 16 hours at Malin Head on Tuesday May 30, Friday June 9 and Thursday June 15.

The Malin Head and Finner weather stations were among 12 to have their wettest July on record. Malin recorded 192.6mm, 238% of its long-term average, with Finner showing 158.1mm, 173% of its long-term average.

The Finner weather station broke its maximum temperature record for a September, with 26.8 degrees celsius recorded.

Climatologist Paul Moore said: “2023 has turned out to be an extraordinary climatological year with climate change driving a surge in extreme weather events and record high temperatures around the world.

“In Ireland, we have set the second consecutive warmest year on record with the annual mean temperature for Ireland breaching 11 °C for the first time. We have also seen one of the wettest years on record in Ireland”

Met Éireann says that Ireland’s warming trend continued in 2023, in line with the global warming trend. 

They said: “One contributing factor to Ireland having such a warm and wet 2023 is the record high sea surface temperatures (SST) across the North Atlantic since April.

“Along with this came a severe marine heatwave to the west of Ireland during the month of June. This contributed to the increase in both the mean temperatures and moisture content in the atmosphere over Ireland.

“In 2023 we saw numerous flooding events in Ireland, especially during the second half of the year, with ‘compound events’ involving heavy rainfall and tidal lock on the rise.”