Weather in Ireland - From Rain to Shine and Back Again

The most glorious thing about Ireland is it takes economical exploring to a whole new level. The beautiful landscapes will wow you, the rolling green mountains will thrill you, and the hills dotted with furry little sheep will make you giggle - all for free. But the weather will confuse you.

There's a saying in Ireland: "If you don't like the weather now, just wait five minutes and it will change."

Guess what happens in five minutes?

In just a matter of moments, you can go from the sun shining to rain creeping out.

In fact, if you wait 20 minutes, you may go through all four seasons.

All that's missing is the picture of the hail, yes, the hail.  But I wasn't quick
enough with the camera and then the sun came out again.

And if you wait a day, goodness knows what will happen. Maybe a hurricane.

The weather report said it would be "a little windy" where we were staying on the west coast of Ireland, near the town of Wesport and not far from Leenane. I don't know about the Irish, but in Florida when there's this much wind, we call it something else - a hurricane.

The winds were reportedly forecast  to be up to 130 kilometers per hour. That's more than 80 miles per hour. That's a category one hurricane where I come from.

Rain coming in sideways, grass blowing over - I didn't travel
across an ocean for this.  It's not even hurricane season in
December in the States!

As expected with strong winds, the power went out. We were left to cook our meal over the fireplace.

It was like camping... inside

It wasn't until almost seven hours later that the power even came back.  On the bright side, even strong winds couldn't harm our beer.  In Ireland, you can keep your alcohol outside because it’s so cold.

But, even windy weather gives you a story to tell. Still, I'll take clear skies in the Emerald Isle any time.

This is definitely more my speed!