Promise of summer sun 'ridiculous'

Met Éireann has rained on the parade of a forecaster who is predicting a summer scorcher for Ireland, branding his claims as 'ridiculous'.

Ken Ring from New Zealand says he can make accurate long-term forecasts by gauging moon, sun and tidal activity. Mr Ring, who claims to have predicted Ireland’s abnormally cold winter of 2010/11 months in advance, has forecast that Ireland is in line for the hottest summer since 1995.

While his prediction that Ireland will be wet this spring would hardly raise an eyebrow, his claims that the country will enjoy three largely dry months in June, July and August has been warmly welcomed. He says temperatures will top a tropical 30 degrees over the summer, with possible drought conditions in August, while we could be in store for a sun-drenched September.

According to Mr Ring, the summer ahead “may remind people of the summer of 1995, with long dry spells, especially the first half of July".

So confident is he in his abilities that he specifically says the last 10 days of April will be fine, while the sun will also shine for a week in the middle of May.

However, Met Éireann’s Harm Luijks poured cold water on the predictions.

“It is ridiculous. Science does not allow us to forecast more than two weeks in advance. That has not changed and it is not going to change,” he said

He told The Irish Times that long-term predictions rarely stand up to scrutiny. “When people like Mr Ring get it wrong you never hear from them but when they get it right they shout it from the rooftops," he said.

He said that such predictions would keep coming and if they said anything out of the ordinary, they would always get some attention. “Everyone wants to have a nice summer and it could certainly happen, but such predictions are still ridiculous.”

While Mr Luijks declined to predict what the Irish summer would be like, he did say that they weather would be “quite mild for the rest of the week” with no sign of any cold weather on the horizon.