Met Éireann data confirms March was one of the wettest on record

It will come as no surprise that provisional data collated by Met Éireann has confirmed that March was one of the wettest ever.

However, climate figures, due to be published on Wednesday, will show that March 2024 was not as wet as March 2023 which remains the wettest on record.

Speaking on the News at One on RTÉ Radio 1, Met Éireann climatologist Paul Moore said the amount of rainfall, nationally, was "145% of its long-term average" during March.

However, there were parts of the country - mainly in the south and east - where rainfall levels were 200% above average.

"Provisional data is showing it (March 2024) was in the top ten wettest anyway but what's different -  this year compared to last year -  is that February of 2023 was a very dry month whereas February of this year was also very wet so we are coming off a wet winter into a wet beginning of spring as well," he said.

Mr Moore said lands in many parts of the country have been "pretty much waterlogged" since the beginning of last summer. 

"We have had basically above-average rainfall all the way back to June last year - so it's been pretty much waterlogged since then," he stated.

Mr Moore told listeners that sunshine values were below average for March which means there was "less drying than there normally would be".

The provisional data suggests average temperatures last month were slightly above their long-term average.