A record we didn't want to break: Irish temperatures surge past 33C

People making the most of the sunshine at Inchydoney Beach, West Cork. Picture: Dan Linehan

An unenviable record has been set, with the mercury exceeding 33C during the current heatwave, higher than any recorded temperature in Ireland for 135 years.

Phoenix Park in Dublin reached the mark provisionally and, if confirmed as accurate, it would be Ireland’s highest ever July temperature, just shy of the highest ever recorded at Kilkenny Castle in 1887, when the temperature is said to have reached 33.3C.

According to Met Éireann, yesterday’s all-time high for Dublin is the highest in the 21st century — beating the record of 32.3C set in Elphin, Co Roscommon, on July 19, 2006, and is higher than any temperature of the 20th century.

The previous maximum was 32.5C at Boora, Co Offaly, on June 29, 1976.

The 33C is 12.8C above its long-term average (LTA), measured between 1981 and 2010, Met Éireann added.

Niamh and Sean Walsh from Ladysbridge were sensibly covered up to protect against sunburn — and were also enjoying cooling ice creams at Redbarn Beach, Youghal, Co Cork. Picture: Howard Crowdy

Dublin was not the only area to apparently shatter its records, the meteorological service said.

Met Éireann said: “Other stations which have recorded provisional highest-ever temperatures are Dunsany, Co Meath, at 30.2C [10.7C above LTA], Mullingar, Co Westmeath, at 30.4C [11.2C over LTA], Ballyhaise, Co Cavan, at 30.5C [10.7C above LTA] and Mount Dillon, Co Roscommon, at 31C [11.3 over LTA].”

Increases in the frequency and intensity of extremely hot weather are directly linked to climate change, which will continue to affect Ireland, Met Éireann said.

Irish Water said that while the “vast majority” of its 750 plants were coping, there are 12 areas currently most at risk of drought, mainly in the Midlands and south, including Clonakilty, Roberts Cove, Whitechurch, and Coppeen in Cork.

Maynooth University’s Peter Thorne, a contributing lead author on the recent UN-backed International Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) reports, said heatwaves such as the current one will only worsen over time unless human-induced warming is stopped.

'We see robust evidence for increased propensity of heatwaves, and increased ferocity of heatwaves,' said Peter Thorne, Professor in physical geography at Maynooth University. File picture

“We see robust evidence for increased propensity of heatwaves, and increased ferocity of heatwaves, and the climate simulations tell us that this will only get worse as we move forward, until we stop emitting heat-trapping gases,” he told RTÉ’s Morning Ireland.

Fundamentally, it is down to us burning fossil fuels and other activities that we partake in that lead to emissions of heat-trapping gases. 

Reiterating comments he made in the Irish Examiner in June, where he warned of the increasing likelihood of food shortages in the coming months, Prof Thorne said: “Food production is a huge concern, exacerbating the effects of Russia’s unprovoked aggression against Ukraine.”

Cork County Council beach guards Eoin O'Donnell and Conall Boyle were keeping a close eye out for swimmers in difficult but also people at risk of heatstroke at Garretstown, Co Cork. Picture: Denis Boyle

Climate extremes across many of the great breadbaskets of the globe will have grave consequences, he said.

“Heatwaves ongoing will almost certainly lead to reductions in productivity in those regions, so we are facing into a major food inflationary crisis in the developed world, but more importantly, mass starvation potentially in the developing world,” said Prof Thorne.

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