Donegal has sunniest day and most rain days in Ireland’s hottest summer
Met Éireann’s Climate Statement for summer 2026 shows Malin Head weather station recorded the highest number of daily sunshine hours but also recorded the most number of rain days
Donegal had Ireland’s sunniest day but also had the lowest mean temperatures and the most days with rain during what was the country’s hottest summer since records began.
An analysis by Met Éireann of data from June , July and August shows the average temperature of 16.28 °C across the country during the summer months made it 0.09 °C warmer than the previous record, only set in 2025, and 2.03 °C above the long term average for 1961-1990.
Met Éireann’s Climate Statement for Summer 2026, which is based on preliminary data from 25 principal weather stations, states summer 2026 was the hottest summer and season on record since records began 127 years ago.
Six of the ten hottest summers have occurred since 2001, while rainfall data also shows summer 2026 was drier than average.
In Donegal, Malin Head weather station recorded the highest number of daily sunshine hours, which was 15.8 hours on July 14.
But the county also saw the most number of rain days with 61 recorded at Malin Head compared to just 29 days at Johnstown Castle, Co Wexford.
Mean temperatures for the season ranged from 14.7 °C at Malin Head, 0.8 °C above the long-term average (LTA), to 17.2 °C at Oak Park, Co Carlow.
Donegal also had the windiest summer with seasonal mean wind speeds of 12.4 knots (23.0 km/h) at Malin Head compared to the lowest of 5 knots (9.3 km/h) at Ballyhaise, Co Cavan.
Donegal was one of only two counties to record gales over the summer. Gales were reported on June 6 at Roches Point, Co Cork and on July 1 at Malin Head.
There were no strong gales or storms reported over the season. The season's highest gust was reported at Malin Head, July 1 with 47 knots (87 km/h).
Met Éireann said the summer saw intense high pressure systems known as heat domes extended north over Ireland on several occasions, bringing prolonged periods of hot weather.
June was warm and relatively wet overall. The first third of the month was dominated by Atlantic low pressure.
The second and third of the month saw a battleground between high pressure to the south and low pressure to the west while it gradually warmed up.
A heat dome from the south brought exceptionally high daytime and nighttime temperatures, along with high humidity, towards the end of the month.
July was dominated by high pressure, which resulted in one of the hottest, driest and sunniest months on record for Ireland. Atlantic weather fronts were kept away to the north and west for most of the month.
Any fronts that did encroach brought some cloud and rain, mostly to the north and west, but it stayed predominantly dry elsewhere.
This setup resulted in a lot of sunshine, especially for the south and east, along with consistently high temperatures.
August saw high pressure close by for most of the month, which kept it drier and warmer than average overall, especially in the south and east.
On a few occasions, low pressure passed close to or over the country, bringing scattered outbreaks of rain or showers that mostly affected the midlands, north and west.
A marked pattern change to low pressure dominance took hold towards the end of the month and season, which brought more widespread and heavy rainfall.