January 2025 marked by cool and sunny conditions, according to Met Éireann

January 2025 was marked by cool and sunny conditions with the direst conditions in the north and west along with record breaking winds, according to Met Éireann in its Climate Statement for the month.

The month will ultimately be remembered for significant snowfall in Munster and the Midlands in early January followed by Storm Éowyn on January 24^th, which disrupted the power network across Ireland.

During storm Éowyn the provisional highest (sustained and gust) wind speeds in the digital climate record for Ireland were reported at Mace Head, Co Galway. The highest gust was 99.5 knots (184 km/h) while the highest 10-minute mean wind speed was 76.5 knots (142 km/h).

Four stations broke their highest gust records. These were Mace Head, Co Galway, Finner, Co Donegal with 150 km/h (81 knots), Athenry, Co Galway with 139 km/h (75 knots) and Gurteen, Co Tipperary with 124 km/h (67 knots) (record lengths between 13 and 21 years).

Four stations broke their highest 10-minute mean wind speed record. These were Mach Head, Co Galway, Finner, Co Donegal with 115 km/h (62 knots), Dunsany, Co Meath with 76 km/h (41 knots) (length 19 years) and Athenry with 83 km/h (45 knots).

Meanwhile, two stations reached hurricane force 12 on the Beaufort wind scale and four stations reached violent storm force 11 and eight station reached storm force 10 on the Beaufort wind scale.

The average national temperature for January 2025 was 5.37 °C, which is 0.45 °C below the most recent 1991-2020 long-term average (LTA) and 0.28 °C above the 1961-1990 LTA. January 2025 was the 66th warmest and 61st coldest January on record since 1900. The warmest January remains in 1916 (109 years ago) and the coldest January remains in 1963 (62 years ago). Four of the top ten warmest Januarys have occurred since 2005. One of the top ten coldest Januarys has occurred recently, that is 2010.

Provisional gridded rainfall data suggests January 2024 averaged at 116.7 mm (88% of the 1991-2020 LTA). The wettest January was in 1974 (51 years ago) and the driest January was in 1963 (62 years ago).

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