Temperatures hit record lows last month

Freezing temperatures broke records in parts of Ireland last month, Met Éireann said today.

Freezing temperatures broke records in parts of Ireland last month, Met Éireann said today.

While most weather stations around the country recorded the coldest November since 1985, Dublin was hit even harder by the frosty conditions.

A temperature of minus 9.1 degrees was recorded at Casement Aerodrome, at Baldonnel, on Sunday - the lowest air temperature since records began there in 1964.

Ground temperatures at the military airbase dropped even further to minus 13.7 degrees, the lowest on record for the month.

However, it was sunnier than usual across the country, with Belmullet in Co Mayo enjoying its sunniest November in more than 50 years.

Dublin airport recorded its coldest ever November day on Sunday as temperatures plummeted to below minus 6 degrees in many places around the country.

Met Éireann said the sharp drop was brought on by an anticyclone that shifted to the far northwest of Ireland, bringing in a bitterly cold northeasterly airstream.

Wintry showers, initially in coastal areas of the east and northwest, became more widespread, resulting in snow over most of the country, with severe frost and freezing fog in places.

There was air frost for up to 14 days in the east and midlands, about twice the normal level for November.