Met Éireann says that June 2023 is the hottest June on record, while the recent marine heatwave has brought extreme sea-surface temperatures to Irish shores.
Met Éireann says that provisional data shows that Ireland has experienced its first June with 16+°C average temperatures.
It says that this exceeds the previous June record, which had held for 83 years.
“June 2023 is set to be more than half a degree higher than June 1940,” Met Éireann says.
The highest temperature of 2023 so far, at 28.8°C, was reported at Oak Park in Co Carlow on Tuesday, June 13th.
It says this is the third consecutive year that a temperature at or above this value has been observed in Ireland.
“Although temperatures have fallen in recent days, they will not prevent this June’s record-breaking situation,” Met Éireann’s climatologist Paul Moore says.
“This year’s particularly warm June is part of an observed warming trend, and our research shows that this trend will continue,” Moore said.
“Our recently published TRANSLATE project provides a reminder that right across society, we need to understand and plan for a changing climate,” he said.
“An average monthly temperature of greater than 16°C has been seen in July and August but never before in June,” Moore said.
“June 2023 was well above normal due to persistent warm days and nights,” he said, and 23 of 25 Met Éireann primary weather stations have shown their warmest June on record.
“In early June, cool easterly winds on the east coast meant that Phoenix Park and Dublin Airport stations were cooler, but they still show their warmest June since 1976,” he said.
Met Éireann researcher Dr Pádraig Flattery said that “as climate change continues, we can expect further records to be broken and more frequent and extreme weather events”.
“A warmer atmosphere can hold more moisture (about 7% for every 1°C of warming), and warmer waters, in turn, provide more energy for storms and can contribute to extreme rainfall events,” he said.
This June, and especially over the past two weeks, Ireland has seen nine days of intense thunderstorm activity, with heavy downpours, lightning, and at times, hail, Met Éireann said.
“While this prolonged spell of thunderstorms has not been the norm in Ireland,…..we are likely to see more of this type of weather as the climate,” it said.
The World Meteorological Organisation recently warned that Europe is warming twice as fast as other continents.
16,000 people died as a result of extreme heat last year, and widespread droughts caused significant economic impacts. The rate of June heat waves has tripled in Spain in the past 12 years. June 2023 was also the warmest June of record in Britain.
Of the top ten warmest Junes on record, half of those have occurred since 2005, that is (in order of warmest) 2023, 2018, 2010, 2006 and 2005, Met Éireann says.
It says Athenry, Co Galway and Shannon Airport, Co Clare experienced 27 consecutive days with maximum air temperatures > 20.0 °C, ending on Saturday, June 24th, 2023.
“Summer 1995 observed 36 consecutive days at various stations in Leinster, ending on Saturday 26th August 1995,” it says.
It says Newport, Co Mayo experienced five consecutive nights where air temperatures did not fall below 15.5 °C, ending on Wednesday, June 14th, 2023.
