Ireland is now much more likely to experience record-high temperatures, according to research from Maynooth University in County Kildare.

The study, led by Professor Andrew Parnell of the Hamilton Institute, suggests that what was once a one-in-180 year event has now become a one-in-nine year event. Scientists investigated the frequency and increases in extreme temperatures in Ireland – north and south – from 1931 to 2022.

The significant increase in the likelihood of extreme heatwaves underscores the need for the island to prepare for rising temperatures and their potential impacts. It means the likelihood of temperatures climbing so high is about 20 times more in recent years than 80 years ago.

“We took data from across Ireland, both north and south, and we used mathematical methods and computational models to produce the results,” Prof Parnell told BBC News. “I was expecting a change in how often we could see such extremes, but we were not expecting the changes to be this large in just 80 years.”

This dramatic shift means temperatures of 33C, which last occurred over 80 years ago, are now much more probable. Two years ago, the Phoenix Park weather station in Dublin recorded a temperature of 32C, the highest ever for the region and just below Ireland’s all-time record of 33.3C.

The highest temperature recorded in Northern Ireland was 31.3C in Castlederg in July 2021.

Read the full article by BBC News NI here.