With temperatures expected to top 30 degrees today and stay as high as 26 tonight, Irish Water has warned a surge in demand for drinking water, coupled with falling supplies, is “not sustainable” and could worsen drought conditions.
As the Irish Examiner reports, Met Éireann has issued two heat warnings as temperatures are expected to remain high for the next three days. People are being urged to take care in the extreme conditions.
The weather service has issued a Status Orange High Temperature warning, for the first time ever, for counties Cavan, Monaghan, Roscommon, Longford, Westmeath and south Leitrim, where daytime temperatures are expected to exceed 30 degrees.
Met Éireann also issued a Status Yellow High Temperature warning for the rest of the country. Both warnings remain in effect until Friday morning.
High temperature warnings are in place across Ireland until at least Friday, with temperatures expected to exceed 30 Celsius by day & remain around 20 C overnight for some locations.
⚠️https://t.co/tZNCdzhbot
⚠️https://t.co/Wae4LaU5ox
Remember to be #SunSafe & #BeSummerReady pic.twitter.com/Svp8gSN4pT— Met Éireann (@MetEireann) July 20, 2021
Advertisement
Temperatures could remain at 25 or 26 degrees at midnight tonight, and the 30 degrees mark could be breached “in a few locations” over the coming days, Met Éireann's head forecaster Evelyn Cusack warned.
UCC climate scientist and founder of Ireland’s Weather Channel, Cathal Nolan, said the heat may intensify today.
"It looks like Wednesday will likely be the heaviest, though it is difficult to say with accuracy, as the highest temperatures can be very localised,” he said.
The hottest temperature recorded so far this year was 29.5 degress in Galway on Saturday, but the midlands and west could see the heat rise to 31 or more across today and tomorrow.
The heat warnings come as Irish Water has appealed to consumers to conserve water as the hot weather has led to increased domestic and commercial demand and impacted supplies.
In Cork, demand for drinking water has increased by 25 per cent on many supplies, and the water utility, along with Cork City and county councils, has warned that this extra demand, combined with high temperatures and falling water source levels, is not sustainable.
Demand for drinking water has increased very significantly in many supplies across Wexford. At the same time, due to the dry weather and high temperatures, water source levels are dropping. Find out more https://t.co/b2IVmPOxf9.
— Irish Water (@IrishWater) July 20, 2021
