Last month was no ordinary summer. Met Éireann has confirmed that July 2024 was the third hottest July ever recorded in Ireland, with several weather stations around the country logging record-breaking temperatures during the month.
The national meteorological service said the figures place July among the most remarkable summer months in Irish weather history, continuing a pattern of increasingly warm summers that has been building over recent years.
Multiple stations across the country hit temperatures that had never been recorded at those locations before. While Ireland is hardly known for baking summers, the data paints a clear picture of a country experiencing a significant shift in what passes for normal weather.
Met Éireann has been tracking Irish weather patterns for well over a century, so placing July as the third hottest on record is no small thing. It means only two other Julys in all of recorded Irish history came in warmer, which gives some real weight to what people felt during the month.
For many people living in Ireland, the heat was noticeable and at times uncomfortable. Irish homes and buildings are not exactly designed with prolonged heat in mind, so even temperatures that might seem modest by European standards can feel intense here. Nights staying warm, combined with daytime heat, made for conditions that many found difficult.
The record temperatures at individual stations add another layer to the story. It is one thing for a month to average out warmer than usual, but when specific locations are logging temperatures they have literally never recorded before, it signals something beyond a routine warm spell.
Meteorologists have pointed to the broader context of climate change when discussing these kinds of records. Ireland has seen a steady creep upward in average temperatures over recent decades, and events like this July are increasingly being flagged as part of a long-term trend rather than a one-off fluke.
Farmers, outdoor workers and people with health conditions that make heat harder to manage all felt the impact throughout the month. There were also concerns raised about water levels and drought conditions in some parts of the country as the dry and warm weather stretched on.
On the flip side, the tourism and hospitality sectors tend to welcome the warmer weather, with beaches, outdoor venues and staycation spots seeing strong numbers during sunny stretches. Some parts of the west and southwest in particular reported busy periods as people took advantage of the conditions.
Met Éireann continues to monitor how Irish climate patterns are shifting and publishes regular reports comparing current conditions against long-term historical averages. The July data will feed into those ongoing assessments.
With summer now winding down, attention will turn to whether the autumn brings the kind of wet and windy return to form that Ireland is more traditionally associated with, or whether the warmer than average trend holds on a little longer into the season.