Weather myths that 3 in 4 of us believe

WE are bombarded daily by forecasts that use the latest computer modelling.

But three in four of us are still more likely to rely on old wives’ tales to predict the weather.

We retain a belief – often misguided – that cows lie down when it’s about to rain or that a red sky at night means it will be fine tomorrow.

A survey found that 58% of adults believe weather proverbs are accurate to some degree – and two-thirds of these say they can be more reliable than official forecasts.

However, nearly half of those who

‘Some are backed up by science’

have relied on old wives’ tales to predict the weather admit they have been caught out.

Not all those who believe the proverbs make use of them. While 83% accept ‘red sky at night, shepherd’s delight’ as true, only 70% rely on it as a guide to the next day’s weather.

The UK survey looked at several of the best-known pieces of well-know folklore to see which are scientifically accurate and which are myths.

While around a quarter of people believe that if it is wet on St Swithin’s Day – July 15 – there will be rain on each of the next 40 days, there is no evidence to back this up. Charlie Powell, a weather forecaster the British Met Office, said: ‘Some of these weather sayings are backed up by science, others are nothing more than old wives’ tales.’

But if you don’t trust pseudoscience, according to Met Éireann, temperatures are set to rocket to 27C today. It will be generally dry, warm and sunny with average daytime temperatures of 20C throughout the country.

The best weather will come in the west, north and north west. Many other parts of the country will be very warm, however, with temperatures in Munster, Dublin and other parts of Leinster expected to reach the early-to-mid 20s.