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A CONTINENTAL HEATWAVE is sweeping across Europe, with many countries already feeling the burn of soaring temperatures and extreme conditions.
France is facing a week of exceptionally hot weather, with temperatures set to exceed 38 degrees before the weekend, according to state-owned media outlet France 24.
Extreme heat is also set to hit the Iberian peninsula, with temperatures expected to reach over 40 in Spain and Portugal.
The mercury will also be hitting the mid-30s in parts of England and Wales, according to a rare extreme heat warning issued by the UK Met Office.
This comes after a series of heatwaves across the continent earlier this summer, with Spain recording the hottest May since the beginning of the century.
Such unusually hot and dry conditions have been wreaking havoc across Europe in recent weeks.
Temperatures of ten degrees were recorded at the summit of the Marmolada glacier in the Italian Alps for the first time ever, causing part of the glacier to collapse and killing at least seven people.
Meanwhile, intense heat has sparked multiple forest fires and several bush fires in central and northern Portugal, with roughly 1,500 firefighters being deployed to tackle the blazes yesterday.
The fires have injured approximately a dozen firefighters and 20 civilians.
Forecast
Met Éireann meteorologist Paul Downes says the extreme heat on the continent and in parts of the UK is predicted to last into early next week.
He said that these extreme weather events come as “no surprise” to meteorologists and climate experts worldwide, with climatologists blaming the increased frequency and intensity of these happenings on climate change.
While Met Éireann’s long-range forecast, covering the next four weeks, indicates that temperatures will likely be around average for the time of year across Ireland, Downes said that the mercury could rise to the mid, potentially high twenties, later this week.
Speaking to The Journal, he said that meteorologists are observing more “stubborn” weather patterns than previous years, with higher and lower atmospheric pressure lasting for longer periods of time, which can in part explain the extreme heat experienced across Europe.
According to Met Éireann’s predictions, low pressure will start to push in on the affected countries next week, lowering temperatures and offering some relief.
Ireland has just experienced its warmest days of the year during this recent hot spell.
Downes said that although the country has not had to face the same colossal disturbances caused by climate change as many of our European counterparts, that does not mean we won’t in the future.
“While we think Ireland is benign and we are glad of warmer temperatures, the risk of severe weather events is gradually on the increase,” he said.
“Nothing is imminent, but there is potential.”
According to the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), global warming has caused an increase in the intensity and frequency of extreme weather events.
The world has already warmed by about 1 degree Celsius since pre-industrial times due to human activity, and the IPCC has warned that global heating is virtually certain to pass 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels, probably within a decade.
The impacts of climate change are already causing severe and widespread disruption around the world and the panel has said drastic action is needed to avoid mounting loss of life, biodiversity and infrastructure.
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What about working individual and family? Where is there increase, you know, the very people of working age who go out and keep the country financed.
@Tipper Irie: Tax cuts have been mentioned.
@Tipper Irie: Be prepared to keep being a tax payer, I’m 70 on a state pension and have to work to top it up
@Colm Kane: always mentioned, but usually smoke, mirrors and clever maths result in a different outcome.
@Tipper Irie: Don’t forget that most pensioners worked and paid taxes all their lives and still do. Of course the current working people and families deserve to be locked after.
The Government trying to scrape back votes before the next GE by the looks of it.
You’d swear there is an election on the horizon
@Brian Madden: I’d say you’re right. Probably that’s why Joan Collins (right 2change) raised the issue in the Dáil today and pressed Varadkar about it….
Ahh Leo….more money for the wealthiest demographic in the country
Try theses (Bertie) manoeuvres all you want but your heading for oblivion
@David Cotter: Those on a state pension are not wealthy.
Proportional increases to the state pension are scandalous. How can it be right to increase the top rate by €12 but pensioners on a lower amount receive as little as €9 or less. If the pension is increased by a euro amount, then all pensioners should receive it.
@Deirdre Fitzpatrick: Yes the Bonkers Pension Systems Victims throw under the bus as usual
Leo the liar strikes again.
Trying to buy votes, too little to late. Bye bye
Open comments on the roscommon case, are ye afraid of something.
Please no more. The increase will not come into effect for 8 months.
So we will have endless bollix talk of will it be 5 or the cost of living multiplied by r squared and age action saying it should be a trillion billion and when we are all worn out it will turn out to be less than the price of a pint in Temple Bar.
Please sir, may I have some more?
MORE?
How is this news? The pension has increased virtually every budget since the foundation of the State.
More wobble talk for Leo. Of course there will be an increase, the cost of living has gone through the roof. But this fella wants you to think it was his idea. Spoofer
Could we just get back the levy they took off our pension!!?
FO Leo!
Vote buying begins, with your money and you’ll be paying for it forever!
Leo is not loyal to the Irish people or the Irish republic.
Won’t vote for you even though!
I love Leo. Please have my babies Leo.
Will it be too late to save them?
Hopefully not..
Election next year and a raft of retirements from the front benches this year
For those who’s comments are being deleted by the shadow banners and thejournal.ie
Stop replying to people directly…start new threads when you reply…this means the shadow banners have more work to delete comments individually instead of an entire thread…make as much work as possible for them so they can’t cover all posts…
Copy your post and when they delete it repost it…if and when they get you banned set up another account…
Make it impossible to cover all comments that many will end up staying up…they will also have to search for your comments to mass false report them….
Also if thejournal.ie is blocking certain reposts just change a few letters one in a few words here and their with the letter x…or anything just once theirs some minor changes it will repost…and always when reposting make these minor changes each repost….I think theirs an algorithm that gets alerted to the post deleted and the eventually bans the user….so slightly modify each repost….
Delete your cookies to reduce targeted mass false deleting and thejournal.ie algorithm associating your account to those deletes….which helps insidious and maliciously delete comments…
The establishment loyalist fascist shadow banners and thejournal.ie are in full steam ahead insidious and malicious deleting of comments that dont tow the line and follow the establishment narrative…
Their you have folks….I’ve just proved that theirs a insidious and malicious subset of users on here mass false reporting other users to in order to suppress others and censor you…because they’ve decided their judge, jurry and executioner of what people can and cannot say….their long time users many of them in this insidious and malicious group…they always comment with glee that people’s comments won’t last and when a comment is deleted the comment with such glee again….
Thejournal.ie needs to permanently ban these people….Thejournal.ie knows who they are and how the harresed many on here deleting their comments and getting people banned…
I personally have had multiple different attacks on me by these people in their campaign of harresment…I’ve had veiled threats made against…I’ve had my IP attacked….I’ve must have had 3/4 of my comments deleted…I’ve been banned nearly 80 times because of them…they’ve insulted me from the very moment I expressed an opinion they despised and then treated me with derision…
These are sick people that thejournal.ie needs to deal with…
This comment section should be a place of free and open discussion once the comments fall with in the guidelines….
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