Ireland is finally set for a long hot summer according to weather guru Ken Ring.

The New Zealand forecaster specialises in long range predictions.

He says while we are set for a cold and wet spring, the weather will pick up from the middle of April.

And he says Ireland will have three largely dry months during June, July and August.

Mr. Rings website 'Predict Weather' claims temperatures will stay above 20 degrees for most of the summer with some days as hot as 30 degrees.

"The dates to really sort of ear-mark on the calendar are the first 10 days of July and the last half of August" he said.

"Those will be the times to sort of take time off if you want to be sure of the weather" he added.

Wet vs Dry in December

Meanwhile rainfall was above average across the west of the country last month while parts of Dublin recorded their driest month in 11 years.

Weather stations at Claremorris in Mayo, Athenry in Galway and Fermoy in Cork were reporting their wettest December since 2006.

But the worst day of rain was at Athenry on December 22nd when almost 25 millmetres of rain was recorded.

Met Eireann says the number of wet days were above average everywhere last month except for the East and Midlands.

On the other hand, temperatures were above average in the South, South-west and some part of the West.

The Phoenix Park in Dublin recorded a temperature of 14.1 degrees on the 22nd.

And as the month played out with some very stormy nights Met Eireann said some parts of the country had their highest December gusts in 15 years.