Northern Ireland experienced joint warmest September on record

September 2021 was 1.9C warmer than normal, despite having only 65% of normal sunshine levels

September was the joint warmest September on record for Northern Ireland, according to the Met Office.

With a mean temperature of 14.2C it matched the record set in September 2006.

Night time temperatures however set a new record with an average low of 10.7C, beating the record of 10.5C also set 15 years ago.

The month of September was 1.9C warmer than normal despite it being relatively dull with just 65% of normal sunshine.

In fact, it was the dullest September since 1965 with just 74.3 hours of sunshine - the third dullest September on record.

The dullest was in 1962 when there was just 73.6 hour of sunshine recorded.

Temperatures hit 31.2C in County Down in July

• Hottest NI day for second time in five days

• Castlederg confirmed as NI's hottest day record

The warmer than average conditions follow a record breaking summer that saw temperatures hit a new high for Northern Ireland.

Ballywatticock in County Down broke a 43 year old record when temperatures there hit 31.2C on the 17th of July.

However, the County Tyrone town of Castlederg beat that a few days later with 31.3C on the 21st July.

The previous record was of 30.8C set in both 1978 and 1983.

Castlederg also holds Northern Ireland lowest temperature record of -18.7C, set in December 2010 - that's a 50C difference.

Portrush pictured in the evening sun