{"id":515804,"date":"2026-06-24T08:49:08","date_gmt":"2026-06-24T08:49:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/515804\/"},"modified":"2026-06-24T08:49:08","modified_gmt":"2026-06-24T08:49:08","slug":"ireland-at-the-edge-of-european-heat-dome-as-met-eireann-issues-hot-weather-warnings-the-irish-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/515804\/","title":{"rendered":"Ireland \u2018at the edge\u2019 of European heat dome as Met \u00c9ireann issues hot-weather warnings \u2013 The Irish Times"},"content":{"rendered":"

Much of mainland Europe is on high alert for extreme heat this week, with weather<\/a> warnings in place in 23 countries. <\/p>\n

Daytime temperatures are forecasted to soar close to 40 degrees across France, Spain, Germany and Belgium, and night-time temperatures have already eclipsed previous records on the Continent. <\/p>\n

With temperatures in Ireland bouncing around the mid-20s, Met \u00c9ireann<\/a> has issued a status yellow advisory from midday Tuesday until Friday morning, warning of \u201cexceptionally warm weather\u201d that could lead to water safety issues, uncomfortable sleeping conditions and heat stress. <\/p>\n

This is the second time this summer a prolonged heatwave has seized the continent. But behind this spike in temperatures is a \u201cheat dome\u201d hovering above the land mass.<\/p>\n

The phrase \u201cheat dome\u201d has only come into use relatively recently and \u201cisn\u2019t a traditional meteorological term\u201d, according to Matthew Martin, a forecasting meteorologist at Met \u00c9ireann. He said it was commonly used \u201cto refer to a slow moving area of high pressure\u201d that \u201cusually develops above large, continental areas\u201d. <\/p>\n

[\u00a0Heat dome sees temperatures soar across Ireland and Europe; Paris reaches 41 degreesOpens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n

He explained that this high pressure builds over several days and restricts air from rising higher in the atmosphere, trapping and condensing heat closer to Earth\u2019s surface. This is a double-edged sword, as air this close to the ground is unable to form clouds, allowing prolonged and direct sunlight to further heat the landscape. <\/p>\n

It is a \u201cshort, sharp blast of hot weather\u201d that has an accumulative effect over time, said Martin. \u201cThe nature of a heat dome is that it\u2019s getting hotter and hotter each day.\u201d <\/p>\n

There are some simple ways to keep cool during the hot weather, Martin said, such as avoiding the sun when the UV index is high and the sun is at its strongest, but there are less obvious things to watch out for. <\/p>\n

\u201cDuring periods of warm weather, there\u2019s a natural increase in the use of coastal areas, with people heading to the beach. But remember to take extra care as water takes longer to heat, and it can still be quite cold despite the high temperatures on land \u2013 which can cause shock for some swimmers,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Martin expects the temperatures to begin to decline by the weekend. Wednesday and Thursday will be the hottest of the week.<\/p>\n

\u2018Europe\u2019s temperature is rising at a quicker rate than elsewhere\u2019<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re at the edge of this heat dome,\u201d said Claire Bergin, from the Irish Climate Analysis Research Units (Icaras) in Maynooth University. \u201cInland areas absorb heat much more intensely than areas beside the coast, where the sea breeze is also cooling us down,\u201d she added.<\/p>\n

On the Continent, it\u2019s a different story. \u201cIf we take France, for example, it\u2019s a much bigger country [than Ireland] and it has a lot of land borders as well, with Germany, Belgium, Italy, etc. So it\u2019s part of a huge land mass that has a strong combined retention of heat,\u201d Bergin said. <\/p>\n

Other landmasses experience heat domes as well \u2013 Bergin lists India, Asia and North American as examples \u2013 but,\u201cEurope is the continent that is increasing in temperature the quickest due to global warming, at a higher rate than elsewhere\u201d, she said. <\/p>\n

But we might not necessarily feel it. \u201cWe\u2019re more moneyed in Europe,\u201d Bergin said, \u201cso we can afford to go out and buy fans, we have access to ice, our offices have air conditioning. The Global South doesn\u2019t have the luxury of cooling themselves down\u201d. <\/p>\n

As the heat dome covering much of Europe extends towards midweek, 40 people have died<\/a> in France in connection to the heatwave, from causes such as drowning and overheating.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Much of mainland Europe is on high alert for extreme heat this week, with weather warnings in place…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":515805,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[1814,61,60,1191,43,18335,15950],"class_list":["post-515804","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-ireland","tag-france","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-met-eireann","tag-news","tag-weather-events","tag-weather-ireland"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/515804","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=515804"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/515804\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/515805"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=515804"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=515804"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=515804"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}