Sunshine totals vary sharply across Ireland

Sunshine has been below average across Ireland over the past week, and Wednesday continued the trend, according to imagery from the Copernicus Sentinel-2A satellite.

Cloud cover was extensive, though parts of Leinster and Munster saw brief sunny spells. Zoomed-in satellite images showed breaks in the cloud over sections of Waterford, Tipperary, Kilkenny, Wicklow, Wexford, and Kildare.

There was a marked contrast in sunshine totals across the country over the past seven days. Conditions were dull in the northwest and west, with Knock Airport in County Mayo recording just 10.2 hours of sunshine, around 39 per cent of the climatological average, according to Met Éireann.

In contrast, the east and southeast saw brighter conditions, with Johnstown Castle in County Wexford recording 38.1 hours, or 110 per cent of the norm.

Despite a brief respite at the end of the working week, unsettled conditions will spread over the weekend and continue through next week. Spells of heavy rain and showers are expected up to and including next weekend.