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heating up

Temperatures to stay in the 20s for most of this week ahead of possible heatwave

Met Éireann said this week will be sunny and dry for the most part across the country.

TEMPERATURES ARE SET to be dry and warm this week with sunny spells across the country until at least this weekend.

The weather is forecast to be very settled with continuing high pressure across the country. 

Conditions will be dry and there will be a large amount of sunshine and very warm temperatures closer to the weekend, Met Éireann said. 

Temperature estimates show there will possibly be a heatwave in the country. Ireland’s metric for a heatwave is five consecutive days with temperatures of over 25 degrees.

Today is set to be dry and warm with long sunny spells that will turn a bit hazy at times.

The forecaster said temperatures will reaching highs of 19 to 24 degrees Celsius. Tonight will be dry with clear spells and lowest temperatures of eight to 12 degrees.

Warm and dry conditions will be largely the same tomorrow with temperatures creeping up to 20 to 25 degrees, possibly hitting 26 degrees in the south and east. 

Wednesday will be dry with sunshine throughout the day and temperatures of highs between 21 and 26 degrees.

Thursday will see higher temperatures again of 23 to 27 degrees alongside the same warm, dry and sunny conditions. 

The forecaster said Friday will be hot, dry and sunny. Highest temperatures will reach 23 to 28 degrees. 

Conditions are forecast to remain hot and dry throughout next weekend with a good deal of sunshine. Temperatures are set to stay in the mid to high twenties across a lot of the country.  

Conall Ruth, meteorologist with Met Éireann, said periods of hot weather like this is “something that we’re seeing more frequently as we continue to change the climate”.

“That’s really only going to continue as we move forward,” he told RTÉ radio’s Morning Ireland. 

Climate science shows that extreme weather events like heatwaves, floods and drought are becoming more frequent and more intense with the effects of climate change. These effects are exacerbated as the global temperature continues to rise. 

Ruth advised people to stay hydrated, wear suncream, be careful if swimming or lighting BBQs/campfires, and to check in on elderly and vulnerable people during times of hot weather. 

Ireland recorded its hottest temperature in at least 135 years last month. The Met Éireann measuring site at Phoenix Park in Dublin hit 33 degrees Celsius on 18 July. 

Met Éireann confirmed last week that nine of the forecaster’s weather stations across the country hit their highest temperatures ever on this day. 

It came the same week the UK recorded its highest temperature on record – 40.3 degrees Celsius. 

London Mayor Sadij Khan said the city’s fire brigade experienced its busiest day since World War Two as fires raged through houses and buildings.

Ireland’s record-breaking heat came in the third week of July as an exceptionally hot tropical continental air mass hung over the island. The weather broke when a cold front brought outbreaks of thundery rain as it pushed the hot air mass away to the east at the end of the week.

Met Éireann’s monthly report for July shows that all mean air temperatures across the country were above their long-term average for the month. Temperatures at Phoenix Park were a full 1.7 degrees celsius above average. 

The weather data also shows that all monthly rainfall totals across the country were below their long-term average.

The UN’s IPCC has said that global warming has caused an increase in the intensity and frequency of extreme weather events.

The world has already warmed by about 1.1 degrees Celsius since pre-industrial times largely due to human activity, and the IPCC has warned that global heating is virtually certain to pass 1.5 degrees, probably within a decade.

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