April weather blows hot and cold

Last month was the sunniest April on record for at least 50 years in many parts of the country, despite some "exceptionally low" temperatures, Met Éireann has said.

In a month of very changeable weather, ground temperatures as low as -13 degrees were recorded with far more ground frosts than normal, while many areas had their sunniest April in decades with temperatures in the high teens.

The beginning of April was particularly cold and though conditions improved in the latter half of the month, overall it was the coldest April in most places since 2001. The month was "marked by some exceptionally low temperatures", Met Éireann said. Birr, Co Offaly recorded its lowest temperatures since 1954, with air temperature dropping to -4.4 degrees and ground temperature as low as -13.2 degrees on April 5th.

Ground frosts were "well in excess of the average", with between 16 and 21 recorded at inland stations in comparison with the usual 11 to 12.

Birr also recorded the highest temperature of the month at 17.4 degrees on April 28th, a day which also saw the most sunshine with 13.4 hours recorded at the Valentia Observatory - its sunniest April day since 1978.

Met Éireann rated the amount of sunshine hours during the month as "exceptionally high" throughout the country. It was the sunniest April in 50 years at Shannon airport and Kilkenny and the sunniest in more than 30 years at Dublin, Cork and Birr.