IRELAND looks set to bask in yet more hot weather for the next few weeks at least, as concern grows over water shortages.
June was the sixth driest month since records began in 1941 - with less than 5mm of accumulated rainfall throughout the country - and weather forecasters are predicting the extremely dry conditions to last beyond July 12.
Irish Water’s hosepipe ban for the Greater Dublin Area kicked in this morning, and further bans are likely to be extended across Ireland over the coming week.
Temperatures with hit 28C today after Met Éireann issued a yellow alert for Munster, Leinster, Cavan, Monaghan, Galway, Leitrim and Roscommon.
That's after Ireland enjoyed highs of 32C in last week's super-heatwave, and while temperatures will dip slightly this week, they’ll remain above 20C almost everywhere during the afternoon.
Warm, dry and mostly sunny today. Highs of 22 to 28 degrees generally, warmest across midlands, south and southeast. A little cooler though for north and northwest counties, in light to moderate northeast breezes. pic.twitter.com/tOhWnMaQw5
— Met Éireann (@MetEireann) July 2, 2018
A drought advisory is in place throughout the week, while elsewhere, Northern Ireland issued its first hosepipe ban in 23 years on Friday due to unprecedented demand for water.
Met Éireann warned: "With little or no rain forecast for most areas over the coming week, drought or near-drought conditions are expected to develop more widely across Ireland.”
Speaking on RTÉ Radio One's Morning Ireland today, meteorologist Gerry Murphy said: "In general, our very warm and sunny weather is going to continue for the most part as we go through this week.
“Temperatures in the mid to high 20s-for Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday, dropping back to the low to mid-20s for Thursday and Friday and recovering then again over the weekend.
“It will be mainly dry, but there may be one or two showers or patches of drizzle later in the week. But overall, mainly dry, warm and sunny weather continuing.”
This chart from the overnight ECMWF model shows accumulated rainfall for 10 days out to 12th of July! Let that sink in for a minute. #heatwave #drought pic.twitter.com/TQnrj5GCM5
— Carlow Weather (@CarlowWeather) July 2, 2018
Met Éireann is predicting highs of 28C for tomorrow and Wednesday, while temperatures will dip to 25C and 24C on Thursday and Friday respectively.
Highs of 26C are forecast for Saturday and 25C for Sunday in parts.
The forecaster added: “Thursday will be a cooler day with a fair amount of cloud and some sunny intervals.
“It will be mainly dry, but there may be a little patchy drizzle in the west and north and a risk of some showers in Munster and south Leinster in the afternoon.
Irish Water MD, Jerry Grant tells RTÉ News that further hosepipe bans are likely to be introduced around the country over the coming week. A ban in the Greater Dublin Area comes into force tomorrow pic.twitter.com/fnxxBchPiY
— RTÉ News (@rtenews) July 1, 2018
“Highest temperatures ranging from 16C in the northwest to 25C in east Munster and south Leinster. Winds will mostly light northwesterly in direction.
“Friday will be dry with sunny spells and little or no wind. Highest temperatures of 18C to 24C, coolest along coasts and warmest in the midlands.
“Saturday will be warm and mainly dry with sunny spells. There’s a chance of one or two isolated showers.
“Highest temperatures of 20C to 26C with light to moderate southwest breezes. It will be coolest along the west coast and warmest in the east.
“Sunday will continue warm and mainly dry with highest temperatures of 20C to 25C.
“At the moment it looks like the early days of next week will continue warm, dry and mostly sunny.”
