There will be no rain for most of the country for at least another 10 days according to Met Eireann meteorologist Evelyn Cusack.
Speaking on RTE Radio One’s Morning Ireland this morning (Thursday, July 5) the Met Eireann head of forecasting warned farmers that there is no rain in sight in the near future.
While one or two showers may fall in a small number of areas, these are very much the exception, Cusack said.
“While we do have some weather fronts skirting in from the Atlantic, so perhaps a little cloudier at times along the west and north-west with a little drizzle, but this will be the exception and here too it will brighten up.
“We could be into the mid 20s or perhaps high 20s over the weekend as well. In terms of the drought, we have extended our drought advisory warning that looks set for continuing over the weekend.
The basic message is that while there will be some showers developing here and there, overall nothing really to improve conditions.
On why the country is experiencing such weather, Cusack explained: “At our latitudes, our prevailing weather systems come in from the Atlantic but very occasionally – once maybe every 15-20 years – you get the Azzurres high building up or the Scandinavian high building down; it’s just a variability, so there’s no reason as such, it’s just variability.”
This has prompted Irish Water to extend its hose-pipe ban nationwide, which may affect rural dwellers, though most farmers are unlikely to be impacted by this.
The state water utility body said: “It has been confirmed that a National Water Conservation Order will be in place from 8:00am on July 6, until midnight on July 31, 2018 for all domestic public water supplies and commercial premises for non-commercial activities.”
In a statement, Irish Water explained: “High levels of sunlight means significant evaporation levels on water sources.
The average soil moisture deficit is currently 60mm nationally which means even if it did rain, no water would reach our water sources as it would be absorbed by the ground.
“The continuation of these drought conditions nationally is putting pressure on water sources as rivers, lakes and groundwater levels drop.”