A HEAT DOME, like the one seen at the end of May, could re-emerge in Europe next week.

While Ireland likely won’t experience severe heat, parts of Spain and France could see temperatures reach the high 30s, or possibly low 40s.

Last month’s heat wave was brought by a so-called “heat dome” of warm air from northern Africa trapped under a high-pressure system over the continent. It topped off the third-warmest spring ever recorded in Ireland.

Met Éireann meteorologist Siobhán Ryan explained how it happened.

High pressure is “falling air”, she said – it’s not moving upwards in the sky.

“That means that the air heats day on day, the same air, so you’re starting from a higher base each and every day,” Ryan said.

“It’s basically creating a continual heating up of the air, and it might be only marginal, but generally for a lot of the area that it affects, it means the temperature will continue to steadily rise for the main.”

For Ireland, the last week of June will bring settled weather with high pressure.

While specifics are unclear, temperatures are forecast to be “a little higher than normal” for this time of year, likely reaching the low 20s in some places, Met Éireann says.

Forecasters in the UK say temperatures there could soar to 30 degrees.

Meanwhile, the city of Auxerre in the north-east of France could see a high of 41 degrees on Monday afternoon. The country is already experiencing high temperatures, with a Status Yellow warning in place in parts of the south and southeast.

Southern and central Spain is expecting similar highs.