Tropical airflow: temperatures way ahead of last year

TROPICAL AIR from southern Europe has caused unseasonably high November temperatures.

In Dublin airport temperatures reached 15 degrees on Sunday, more than double the normal mean November temperatures.

At Valentia Observatory in Co Kerry temperatures reached 17.4 degrees on Sunday, eight degrees above the usual mean temperature.

“A southeast airflow and a tropical air mass from the southern regions, such as Spain, are moving all the way up towards us giving high temperatures,” Met Éireann weather forecaster Harm Luijkx said yesterday.

The first 13 days of the month saw temperatures far above normal with average high temperatures in Dublin of some 13 degrees. Temperatures for Dublin usually stay below 10 degrees in November.

The temperature in Dublin fell to about 10 degrees yesterday due to a mist moving in from the Irish Sea, he said.

The rest of the week is likely to be 10 or 11 degrees “with no cold weather on the horizon” Mr Luijkx said.

At Valentia highest temperatures in the first fortnight averaged 15.5 degrees. This is well ahead of last year’s highest temperature average of 7.4 degrees for the month, which made it the coldest November at Valentia since 1985. Overall November 2010 was the coldest in many parts of the State due to sub-zero temperatures in the last days of the month, when temperatures fell below -6 in many parts.