Ireland - a 'temperate' climate?

slowburner · 25-01-2012 11:52am #1

Does any other place in the world equal or better Ireland for extreme temperature swings?
Over the past few winters, swings of 20ºC in 24 hours were not unheard of.
(correct me if I'm wrong)

And while I'm at it;
a Canadian friend and a Scottish friend both say that they have never experienced anywhere as cold as this country.

Is this to do with the quantity of moisture in the air or wind/chill factor?

rockdrummer4 · 25-01-2012 11:59am

Yes, their are deserts in S America with temperature swings of 30 or more between night and day !

It would ferquently get to -30 in canada, Ireland we would get frequently to maybe -1 or -2, so your Canadian friend would be exagerrating !

But yes the air here is very moist, so it feels colder during winter (wind chill helps here) for the temps we get, and warmer during the summer (20 here would feel like 25 elsewhere approx)

slowburner · 25-01-2012 12:09pm

Granted the actual temperatures in Canada and Scotland might go well below what we typically experience here, but the thing is, how cold it FEELS.

We seem to get weather here which makes it crazy to spend any time outdoors.
If you do you just get cold, wet and dirty.
In Canada and Scotland, heck, you can have great fun outdoors in those freezing temperatures - you don't get as wet, or as dirty.

On that basis, I argue that Ireland has a tougher climate than either Canada or Scotland

rockdrummer4 · 25-01-2012 12:20pm

They are way more prepared for their cliamate than we are. We get a bit of snow the whole country stops.....

The air is alot drier in those countries but spend any time out in that cold and you wont last long

slowburner · 25-01-2012 12:28pm

All you have to do to compare the two climates, is look at the outdoor clothing. Snow boots there, wellies here

gbee · 25-01-2012 12:30pm

slowburner wrote: »

On that basis, I argue that Ireland has a tougher climate than either Canada or Scotland

The rapidly changing weather is the answer, we can have 10°C in summer and wake up one morning to 25°C and this may only last a couple of days and suddenly we drop back to 10°C and heavy cold rain with it.

This certainly makes our climate harsh, as we don't have time to acclimatise to it before it changes again.

We also have our best weather in Winter with our summer split into late spring and mid autumn while summer itself is usually wintry.

gurramok · 25-01-2012 12:31pm

Foreigners i've met who came over here from the Continent especially the influx of recent Eastern Europeans in past years have always mentioned it does be colder here than in their home countries, definitely something to do with our moist air.

And the opposite can be case in the summer, they find it quite humid here even at 16C

slowburner · 25-01-2012 12:44pm

gbee wrote: »

The rapidly changing weather is the answer, we can have 10°C in summer and wake up one morning to 25°C and this may only last a couple of days and suddenly we drop back to 10°C and heavy cold rain with it.

This certainly makes our climate harsh, as we don't have time to acclimatise to it before it changes again.

We also have our best weather in Winter with our summer split into late spring and mid autumn while summer itself is usually wintry.

youngblood · 25-01-2012 9:04pm

I remember being taught that Ireland has a
"cool temperate oceanic climate"

is this still true?
Was it ever?

Irish Steve · 25-01-2012 9:22pm

Biggest swing I have ever seen was in Denver, Colorado, a few winters ago.

We were there on holiday, went prepared for serious cold, and got a serious surprise on walking out of the aircraft to find everyone in short sleeve T shirts and the temperatures in the 70's, 20C, which stayed that way for a week. We picked a friend up from the airport the following Saturday, and it was the same.

Went back to where we were staying, and overnight, the temp went from +20C to -20 C, and in the process, there was a snowfall of close on 450 mm of snow, with next to no wind, so we came down from sleep on the Sunday morning to the sight of snow in all directions, the most spectacular thing being a vertical column of snow over 18" high on the 45 degree handrail of the external steps that went down to the lower level by the garage. The handrail was 4" wide, and first thing, no wind had broken any of the snow on the handrail. A little later, things stirred up some, and it started blowing around, but for a while, it was spectacular:D

Temperatures remained below 32F 0C for the next week, even by day, and went colder by night, but there was no more snowfall. What was very noticable was that the roads were clear within 4 hours, despite the depth of the fall, and where we were was very much rural, and not commuter or on bus routes or the like, but the relevant authorities were organised, and had the equipment, and knew how and when to use it.

If I'd not seen it, I'm not sure I would have believed that such a dramatic drop could occur so quickly.

Solair · 26-01-2012 4:00am

slowburner wrote: »

Granted the actual temperatures in Canada and Scotland might go well below what we typically experience here, but the thing is, how cold it FEELS.

We seem to get weather here which makes it crazy to spend any time outdoors.
If you do you just get cold, wet and dirty.
In Canada and Scotland, heck, you can have great fun outdoors in those freezing temperatures - you don't get as wet, or as dirty.

On that basis, I argue that Ireland has a tougher climate than either Canada or Scotland

Depends which part of Scotland... Most of it is pretty similar to Ireland, just even chillier. I remember days in Glasgow that would make Galway seem tropical! It was damp and freezing

Victor Meldrew · 26-01-2012 2:16pm

Irish Steve wrote: »

Biggest swing I have ever seen was in Denver, Colorado, a few winters ago.

overnight, the temp went from +20C to -20 C, and in the process, there was a snowfall of close on 450 mm of snow,

In the Rockies (near Denver) the summer there it regularly gets below freezing at night and then stinking hot during the day. We also had a regular thunderstorm at 2.30 pm each day. Great climate altogether.

desolate sun · 26-01-2012 4:25pm

I don't know. I lived in North Holland many years ago and I never before experienced the cold coming off the canals in the Winter. It was the worst cold I have ever felt and we had -16 last Christmas and I wasn't too put out by it.

Funnily enough it was only one particular town that was unbearably freezing. The other towns seemed OK

Ireland - a 'temperate' climate?

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