WHILE no one needs to be reminded about our wet autumn and winter weather, the West of Ireland escaped the extreme rainfall events that caused such havoc in the south-east and east of the country last month.

The January rainfall at the Athenry Met Éireann station of 114.9mms [4.5 inches] was actually lower than the long-term-average [LTA] for that location of 122.7mms.

By contrast the rainfall at the Met Station in Johnstown, Wexford, for January – 232.7mms [9.2 inches] – was more than double the Athenry figure.

The combination of a more southerly jet stream and a massive area of high-pressure over Scandinavia resulted in the Atlantic frontal systems being blocked and blown in over the south-east and east coasts.

While land in the West is either saturated or waterlogged, the region in general, escaped the catastrophic flood damage that occurred in more eastern areas.

Storm Chandra, which hit Ireland on January 26th/27th last did the serious rain damage across parts of the country, where the ground was already saturated.

Abbeyknockmoy weather recorder, Brendan Geraghty, told the Farming Tribune that his two wettest days were the Monday and Tuesday of January 26/27. He collected 0.85 inches [22mms] of rainfall on the 26th and 0.5 inches [12.7mms] on the following day.

His overall total for the month was 4.32 inches [110mms], falling over 14 days, with 17 dry days through the month of January.

“Of course with land already saturated, everywhere is extremely wet but compared to the flooding they experienced in other parts of the country, we got off quite lightly.

“At least our wet spell is coming at a time when most cattle are housed and after a very good summer for growth in 2025, there seems to be plenty of silage around.

“What we’re all hoping for is a drier spring period through this month and March, which would make a huge difference to farmers. Overall though, we have endured a very wet four months of weather,” said Brendan Geraghty.

Pictured: The more southerly line of the jet stream [last Tuesday, Feb. 3rd] gives a better chance of drier periods in the west and north-west of the country. The huge ‘high’ over Scandinavia is blocking the Atlantic frontal systems from travelling any further east – instead they are being ‘shoved up’ over southern parts of the UK and the south-east and east of Ireland.