Rare showers, but drought ‘still has a long way to go’

A SLIGHT dip in temperatures and a rare drop of rain is set to hit the country, but there is no sign of the drought ending as water restrictions continue.

Today could see rain hit northern parts of the country and potentially Dublin, but this is expected to be minimal.

Temperatures are expected to reach high teens and low 20s over the next three days.

Irish Water continued to urge people to conserve supplies, saying the national hosepipe ban introduced last week was having an impact. However, it said more savings were still needed.

Restrictions to water supplies are now in place across 14 counties, with seven drinking water supplies affected in Galway, five in Carlow, four in Limerick, three in Kerry, two in both Waterford and Laois, and one each in Clare, Cork, Kilkenny, Longford, Offaly, Tipperary, Westmeath and Wexford.

In all, around 15,000 people are affected.

“Irish Water continues to urge people to conserve water,” a spokesperson said. “We can see the difference in the level of water demand which is holding steady, but we still have a long way to go.”

In Howth, Dublin, a ‘do not swim’ notice has been issued for Claremont Beach over concerns about water quality.

Fingal County Council said the beach was closed for swimming until at least tomorrow “due to suspected impacts from animals/birds and contamination of urban surface waters discharging into the bathing water”.

Meanwhile, the Dublin Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (DSPCA) is warning dog owners to be aware of how the heat can affect their pets.

It has rescued five dogs that were in distress from cars over the past 10 days.

Chief executive Brian Gillen said breaking the window of a car to free a dog is a serious thing to do and is only undertaken when there are fears for the health of the animal.

“The animal is very distressed in the car, we don’t let it get to the point where they’re unconscious but they’re not far off that,” Mr Gillen said.

Thankfully, the DSPCA said it has not seen any fatalities from pets being left in cars so far during the heatwave.

However, Mr Gillen reiterated that dogs should not be left in cars in hot weather for any length of time.

Meanwhile, he said four horses – two mares and two foals – have been seized in the past month. Despite the best efforts of the DSPCA, one foal later died.