02/06/2026
I certainly remember attempting to study while the sun was beating down, and then sweating it out in the exam hall, and not just because of the exam questions! Anyone else attest to "exam weather"? Best of luck to all our exam students on the final day before exams start. Double check the supplies for the morning - we have you covered for any last minute stationary needs! 🖊🖋✏️
Bit of a different post. The "Leaving Cert Weather" phenomenon is often a throw around term in Ireland to describe a period of fine weather coinciding with the Leaving Certificate exams and then a change happens once the exam period passes.
Is there some truth to this? Well yes there actually is to an extent but there's more nuance than what initially meets the eye. I will try and explain this as simple as I can.
During the months of April and May, the stratospheric polar vortex (a ribbon of air surrounding the arctic circle in the stratospheric level of the atmosphere), which keeps Irish winters relatively mild and sometimes stormy due to enhanced westerly winds off the North Atlantic, dies down and increases the risk of easterly winds. Easterly winds often give our best weather in Ireland in terms of warmth and sunshine though the east coast can be an exception due to being exposed so significantly cooler here. May is the sunniest month of the year on average in Ireland due to this phenomenon so even though June and July have a higher theoretical maximum sunshine, this is rarely fulfilled here.
This phenomenon can last into early June due to the same physics but later in June as pressure rises over the ocean and falls over the continent due to increasing heat and instability, we can get what's called a return of the westerlies or European Monsoon where the westerly winds return bringing cloudy, humid air in off the North Atlantic. This especially becomes apparent through July and August. So whilst say Spain gets hotter and sunnier, Ireland gets cloudier and more humid.
With the scientific explanation out of the way, is the Leaving Cert period actually that reliable for fine weather and how has it fared in recent years? Are any of these how you remember? It's actually more variable than you think.
- Seán
