THE WARM WEATHER is not letting up this weekend and Met Éireann says this is Ireland’s longest drought since 2018, so will we ever get used to these strangely consistent high temperatures, and what’s the best way to keep cool in the heat?
Now, it may seem a little strange to be worrying about warm weather in an Irish summer, and many will surely be making the most of the sun this weekend, but there are health risks that come with the heat.
Add to this the fact that climate change is making its presence felt more and more every year – it’s predicted to reach 26 degrees next week – and it seems wise to think about how to mitigate the heat in a country with almost no air-conditioning and little experience with long dry spells.
With Met Éireann forecasting particularly warm nights this weekend, The Journal spoke to two experts about coping with the heat, what the risks are and who is most vulnerable.
“There are two kinds of separate risks,” says professor Anthony Staines, a public health expert at DCU. ”
“One is the sunburn risk, which people would be familiar with. The more insidious one is heat stroke. If you’re overheated, and particularly if you’re overheated at night, the risk of death goes up fairly steadily as the temperature rises.”
Heat stroke occurs when the body overheats and loses the ability to regulate its temperature, which then rises to dangerous levels.
Dr Mary Bourke, a geographer at Trinity College Dublin who specialises in extreme conditions, works in deserts and has herself suffered heat stroke, says the symptoms can include “lethargy, thirst, disorientation… there can also be some swelling if it’s accompanied by sunburn.”
There is a full list of heat exhaustion and heat stroke symptoms on the HSE’s website here.
This risk, Staines explains, was brought to public attention during a major heatwave in Europe in 2003, which hit France especially hard and resulted in an estimated death toll of over 70,000 people across the continent.
“A significant number of older people died,” says Staines, who explains that the elderly are among the most vulnerable to the effects of intense heat.
“It’s people who are some increased risk typically who are the people that are most affected although you can get it if you’re young and fit.
“If you work outdoors and exercise too much outdoors and you get too hot, you get something that’s a bit like heat stroke, but that’d be uncommon,” he says.
Bourke concurs with Staines and adds that young babies are also at risk and should be kept out of the sun if possible.
“Groups that would be most susceptible would be those who cannot regulate their body heat as efficiently as others and that tends to be people of an older age and younger babies,” she says.
“The public health message is fairly straightforward, which is that you should keep drinking (water), you should stay out of the sunshine. You can use blinds or curtains to cool down the inside of your house.”
Nighttime can be more difficult though if the weather is warm, he explains, because it might be warmer outside than it is inside, which means that opening a window may not necessarily help, especially if there is no breeze.
“It hasn’t been a major problem in Ireland so far,” says Staines, “but as climate change gets steadily worse, it’s likely to become more so.”
Staines says that in other countries such as the US there are cooling down stations for treating people suffering from the heat. But without those facilities in Ireland, what should someone do if they find a person with symptoms?
“If you find someone who is confused, warm and their skin is dry, you need to be quite concerned about that person’s wellbeing.”
“There’s a temptation to kind of drown people in cold water but don’t do that. You do what’s called tepid sponging, using a cloth of some kind, water that is not warm but not freezing cold either, and just get them to drink.
“And if you’re worried about them, call an ambulance.”
On the less severe side, Bourke says she found a novel way of keeping rooms cool – blocking the windows with tinfoil. She says she found it on TikTok, tried and “it works.”
“It reflects back radiant energy” much like the screens people put up in their car windows in hotter countries.
@wrinkleandrose Tin foil hack! Foil your windows to reduce heat #heatwave #canadian #alberta #yeg #hotmom #momlife #momhack #fy #itworks #momtok #staycool #fypシ ♬ Heat Waves - Glass Animals
With climate change having an ever more noticeable impact on our day-to-day lives, dealing with high temperatures is something we likely need to get used to as a society. As Staines says, this is not going away anytime soon.
“People need to realise things have changed,” he says, “and not for the better.”
We may look back on these years quite differently in the future, he predicts, with the current heat levels seeming like a temperate paradise.
“I assure you, in 20 years’ time, you’ll look back on the nice, cool years of the 2020s.”
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