LAST UPDATE | 2 hrs ago

THE RECORD HIGH temperature for the month of May has been provisionally beaten.

Ireland’s record temperature for the month of May of 28.4C was set on 31 May 1997 at Ardfert in Co Kerry.

It looks like that temperature was beaten this afternoon at Shannon Airport, where a temperature of 28.6C was recorded.

Earlier today, the record high for the month was matched at Oak Park in Co Carlow.

A Met Éireann spokesperson told The Journal that while it looks like this record high has indeed been broken, it will need to be verified.

“All of our data is always verified and we have strict high-quality control measures in place between climate and our instrumentation teams that would be able to verify to ensure these numbers are the most accurate.”

Meanwhile, the record was beaten even further at both the Clonmel and Killarney automatic weather stations, with temperatures of 28.8C were recorded at 3pm.

However, these are not one of Met Éireann’s primary weather stations and a spokesperson said Met Éireann only uses official stations for its records.

Earlier today, Met Éireann meteorologist Gerry Murphy remarked that tomorrow will be “even warmer, especially over the southern half of the country”.

Speaking on RTÉ’s News at One, he said the current weather conditions are due to a large area of high pressure over much of central Europe.

Looking further ahead into the week, Murphy said that temperatures will remain high on Wednesday but will not be “quite as hot”.

On Thursday, Murphy said there will likely be a few showers and while drier weather will come on Friday, there could be further rain over the weekend, with temperatures coming down to the low 20s.

Meanwhile, the Irish Cancer Society reminded people to protect their skin from harmful ultraviolet rays – the main cause of skin cancer.

Michelle Lonergan, cancer awareness nurse at the charity, said: “Over-exposure to the sun can damage the skin at any age, and this damage builds up over time, increasing the risk of melanoma and other types of skin cancer.

“Even on cloudy or cooler days, UV rays can still penetrate the skin, making daily protection essential whenever you are outdoors.”

Ms Lonergan said simple steps can make a “huge difference in reducing” risk – including regularly reapplying a broad-spectrum sunscreen with a high SPF (30 or above), and wearing lightweight long sleeves, sunglasses and a wide-brimmed hat.

She also said it was important to protect babies and children as their skin is more sensitive to the sun.