We’re bone dry

As drought conditions turn the country parched brown and lead to possible price increases, forecasters warn...

THE entire country is now ‘bone dry’ as a result of the blistering heat, according to a Met Éireann forecaster.

The senior forecaster told the Irish Daily Mail that ‘all of Ireland is parched’ and said there’s ‘not a place’ in the country where the rainfall ‘hasn’t been below normal’.

The forecaster – speaking after one of Ireland’s most senior meteorologists stated that the country was in ‘absolute drought’ – said that differentiating between areas experiencing drought and absolute drought was unnecessary as the whole country is feeling the impact of hot weather.

He said the term ‘absolute drought’ related to a 15-day period in which less than 0.2mm of rain fell in a particular area.

‘Some places may not technically fall under that because they might have had 0.3mm of rain, but that makes no difference,’ he explained.

He said that trying to decide which area was in total drought was ‘meaningless’. He added: ‘There’s 24 of the 25 [weather] stations basically around the country had less than 0.2 mm yesterday, with Belmullet the exception’. But he said: ‘Belmullet is not wet; it just might have had 0.2 or 0.3mm.’

His comments came after retired meteorologist Gerard Fleming told RTÉ Radio 1’s Today With Miriam O’Callaghan that 23 of the 25 stations across the country would be in absolute drought if there was no rainfall by midnight tonight.

Although conditions are unusually hot, he said that this is not the first time the country has experienced such high temperatures and reduced rainfall.

According to Mr Fleming, similar conditions were experienced in 1974-76 and 1995, though he added that absolute droughts tend to be experienced around April or September. Although the mercury has climbed much higher than usual, he said that we have yet to break the all-time highest temperature of 33.3C recorded in Kilkenny in the 1880s.

However, he added that it was likely that records would be broken in some stations across the country for the duration of the hot weather and low rainfall.

The hot conditions are set to persist and although yesterday was slightly cooler, with light showers in the north-east, the sweltering conditions are set to continue well into next week.

Farmers around the country have been struggling to look after their animals as low water levels have resulted in a lack of water for large animals including dairy cows, which drink 120 litres a day.

Crops have also died in the heat, which the Irish Farmers Association has warned is likely to result in shortages and price hikes as early as next week.

This week, warnings were also issued to pet owners to avoid walking their dogs during the hottest hours of the day and not to leave them in cars during the sweltering conditions.

Met Éireann has also extended a Status Yellow weather warning for another week as the drought conditions continue. Temperatures, which have hit the mid 20s this week, are set to rise to 28C at the weekend.

Met Éireann said we can expect ‘mostly dry and warm weather across Ireland for the rest of this week and through next week as well, thus exacerbating drought conditions’.

Soil water content remains very low, meaning that even if there is a small amount of rain in isolated parts of the country, it will be absorbed by the parched soil and will not flow into rivers.

Today will be dry, with temperatures in the low 20Cs, with warmer conditions in the midlands.

The warm and mostly dry conditions will likely continue for most of next week. There is a limited chance of some scattered showers from the middle of next week, but temperatures will still be in the mid to high 20s.

In response to the lack of rainfall, the current hosepipe ban in Dublin is to be extended across the country today, and only containers such as buckets and bottles can be used to water plants. The ban was first introduced in Dublin on Monday.

Exceptionally dry conditions have led to a number of serious gorse fires.

Late last night, firefighters were battling with a huge forest fire on the Slieve Bloom mountains in Laois and Offaly. Coillte confirmed that the fire has engulfed hundreds of hectares of forestry.

A long, continuous fire line could be witnessed burning across Slieve Bloom yesterday and smoke could be seen from afar. It started at about noon on Wednesday and moved rapidly across the mountain.

Crops have died in the heat