Monday and Tuesday next week could be the hottest days on record in Ireland, according to the latest forecast.
Most inland places in the south and east will see temperatures of 30 degrees on Monday, but local temperatures will get higher in places.
The latest weather models show the possibility of 33 degrees in the Shannon estuary and 32 degrees in north Dublin and south Meath on Monday with similar temperatures on Tuesday.
Met Éireann forecaster Paul Downes said Tuesday now looks like it is going to be “as hot if not hotter than Monday”.
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A status yellow weather warning for high temperatures has been issued by Met Éireann from 6am on Sunday morning to 9pm on Tuesday night.
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While forecasters are reluctant to attribute any given weather event to climate change, Met Éireann’s head of climate services division Keith Lambkin said June 2022 was Europe’s second warmest on record, and the warmest in the United States. The eight hottest Junes on record globally all occurred in the last eight years.
“Due to climate change, we are expecting to see heatwaves become longer, more frequent and intense than in the past. This increase in heat increases the odds of temperature records being broken,” he said.
The temperature will break down on Tuesday night with thundery rain expected across the country. However, Met Éireann said is not likely to make up for the soil moisture deficits which have resulted from a prolonged dry period in the south-east of the country.
Irish Water has advised customers in the counties of Kilkenny, Carlow, Wexford and Waterford to conserve water. The weather station at Johnstown Castle in Co Wexford shows that just 6.2mm of rain has fallen so far this month. The monthly average for July is 72.8mm. Similarly, just 8.1mm of rain has fallen at the Met Éireann station at Oak Park in Co Carlow.
The record temperature for Ireland is 33.3 degrees at Kilkenny Castle on June 26th, 1887, a record that has stood for 135 years.
However, a group of meteorologists at the Irish Climate Analysis and Research Unit (ICARUS) has disputed that temperature.
The group believes the highest recorded temperature in Ireland that can be independently verified is the 32.5 degrees recorded on June 29th at Boora, Co Offaly, during the long, hot summer of 1976.
Amid the high temperatures, Dublin City Council is co-ordinating the response to ensure homeless people at risk are sheltered.
The Dublin Region Homeless Executive-funded Dublin Outreach service and Housing First Intake Team (provided by Dublin Simon Community and Peter McVerry Trust) will be engaging with those at risk of rough sleeping to provide shelter for anyone who needs it.
The teams will also distribute water and sunscreen.
In the United Kingdom, a meeting of the government’s emergency cabinet, Cobra, has been called to cope with an unprecedented heatwave.
There is now an 80 per cent chance the record UK temperature — 38.7 degrees set in Cambridge in 2019 — will be broken and a 50:50 chance the mercury will reach 40 degrees.
The Met Office has issued an amber heat warning covering much of England and Wales from Sunday until Tuesday.
