The Met Office has said that having produced just 15 mm of precipitation, last month went down on record as the fifth driest January since 1923.

The total measured fell heavily short of the rainfall quota for the month, which stands at 92.9 mm of precipitation.

The wettest day of this unseasonably dry month was the 12th of January, with 5.8 mm of rain being measured within a 24-hour stretch.

The MET Office reported that January clocked up 179.8 hours of sunshine, surpassing the climatic norm by just over 17 hours.

The last week in January started with an exceptionally bright Monday, during which the sun shone for 9.5 hours. Conversely, the twenty-third day of the month was the bleakest, with a mere 0.2 hours of sunshine being recorded.

Averaging at 13.2°C, January’s air temperature was 0.5°C higher than the climate norm. The air temperature for the month ranged between a lowest minimum of 5.1°C and a maximum of 18.8°C reached towards the end of the month.

The Met Office said that the sea too was warmer than the norm, with the surface temperature averaging at 16.6°C rather than the expected 15.8°C.

Photo: Alain Salvary

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