Wettest August recorded in Offaly since 1917

It wasn"t just our perception - last month really was one of the wettest Augusts of all time. Rainfall figures released by Met Éireann from its station in Birr have indicated that the month was the wettest August in Offaly since 1917. Speculation that climate change has been making its presence felt won"t be dispelled by these findings - especially when July of this year and both July and August of 2007 also had rainfall well in excess of the average for that time of year. Last month"s rainfall in Birr was more than double the average for the month of August. The rainfall totals represented a whopping 232% of the average rainfall figures for the month of August, based on the annual statistics between 1961 and 1990. This was more than the 2007 total, which was 186% of the monthly average and which included the highest daily rainfall in Ireland that month - 41mm in Birr on August 11, 2007. Met Éireann summed up the weather in August 2008 as: 'exceptionally wet and dull.'