December was coldest ever month

Date Published: 02-Jan-2010

A HORRIBLE year weather-wise is set to expire with a stinging dying kick, as the cold snap returns with a vengeance to herald the start of 2010.

Temperatures in the city could drop to -10° Celsius over the weekend and into the early days of next week, as we come under the influence of a bitingly cold arctic air stream.

Air temperatures in the city touched -6° Celsius on Monday last, while on Christmas Day, ground temperatures went as low as -11°C.

Many householders had problems with freezing pipes over the past week and while we had a thaw of sorts on Tuesday and Wednesday, the severe frosts are back from tonight.

The last month of the year now looks set to be the coldest ever in Galway since the ‘more modern’ recording of temperature began in 1966.

There were 19 air frosts through the month of December with a staggering 25 ground frosts – it will bring to an end a year of extreme weather conditions in Galway and across the country.

City meteorologist Frank Gaffney, who has recorded Galway weather statistics for the past 43 years, told the Galway City Tribune that the bitterly cold December would bring to an end a year of striking weather contrasts.

“We had a very warm and sunny June followed by a wet summer before the record rainfall of November arrived. Now we are on the receiving end of a real cold snap and one or our coldest ever Decembers,” said Frank Gaffney.

He recalled that historically there were other extended ‘big freezes’ in February of 1947, 1945 and in the winter of 1961, but added that this December was on track to be the coldest since his recording of temperature began, back in 1966.

“I suppose it has been a very tough year weather-wise particularly on people working outdoors like farmers – severe consecutive frosts can cause a lot of problems for everyone,” he said.

The Met. Office are predicting that the polar airflow which is giving us our current arctic conditions will persist over the next seven days, and is likely to intensify through the early days of next week when temperatures could go as low as -10° Celsius in the city, and even lower in more inland areas.