Katesbridge is a small hamlet in County Down, Northern Ireland. It is within the townland of Shannaghan,^[1] just off the main route from Castlewellan to Banbridge, and 7km north of Rathfriland. The River Bann flows by the hamlet. In the 2001 Census it had a population of 135 people. It lies within the Banbridge District.

The hamlet is named after Kate McKay, who was born in Ballyroney in 1691 then went to live with her grandmother who is said to have owned the house where the workmen lodged when building the 18th-century bridge. It is because of Kate’s kindness the workmen named the bridge after her, and the hamlet became known as Katesbridge.

It’s no secret that Katesbridge is known as one of the coldest places in Northern Ireland. Like Castlederg, Tyrone and Altnahinch Filters, Antrim. These locations all have a similar geography which allows deeper cooling compared to surrounding areas.

What’s interesting however is the chill observed particularly at Katesbridge during the late spring and summer months which have rewritten the record books in just the last two summers.

Last August, Katesbridge set a new cold record for Northern Ireland with a very chilly overnight minimum of -1.9C. This beat a 1964 record of -1.1C set at Loughermore Forest.

Back in April this year, a temperature of -8.1C was set on the 27th, likely setting a new record for coldest so late in the season for Northern Ireland.

It came close to the national April record of -8.5C but this was set earlier in the month. The May record was -6 and it’s unlikely there’s been a reading down to -8.1C just days from May.

Then we get to the particularly noteworthy July of 2015. Considered ‘midsummer’ and Katesbridge dipped last Wednesday to an unusually chilly 0.3C, a new July record for the site. However, just Wednesday past, under another perfect setup of cool daytime temps followed by clear sky, no wind and dry air, we saw the temperature surpass last week’s new July record with an even more impressive -0.6C.

According to BBC NI Weather, since 1959, there have only been 7 air frosts recorded during the month of July in Northern Ireland.

There appears to be a trend for unusually cold nights at this site.

https://youtu.be/kDa8DtYtsog

So why did we see Katesbridge break a Northern Ireland cold record last August and set not one but two new July records this year?

That reason isn’t entirely clear but I suspect a colder Atlantic Ocean may be helping cooler and drier air masses over Ireland and the UK which cools more than normal during even the shortest of summer nights. A warmer ocean typically adds moisture to the air above and so nights tend to be warmer. I’ve noticed that even on the warmest of days, we’re cooling more overnight than recent years when the Atlantic was warm.

Jul 2, 2015 (Note SST’s are colder than normal to the west and surrounding Ireland.

Aug 4, 2014. Interesting waters are very warm across the N Atlantic and surrounding the UK and Ireland but the Irish Sea was slightly COOLER than normal.

It will always be the typical cold hollows that will see these new records but it’s going to be interesting to see whether this ‘unusually cool nights’ trend continues.

I intended to do a video this morning but unfortunately my internet was down for some reason. Not sure whether it was maintenance or weather related. Hope to have a video again tomorrow.

[s2If current_user_can(access_s2member_level1)]

[/s2If][s2If current_user_cannot(access_s2member_level1)][magicactionbox id=”18716″][/s2If]