Irish temperatures soar again as UK has hottest day of year at 38.1 degrees

By Emily Beament, Press Association Environment Correspondent

Temperatures climbed to 25 degrees in Dublin's Phoenix Park this afternoon as the country undergoes a second day of hot weather.

Met Éireann says temperatures could reach 31 degrees in some areas, and it's advising people to be mindful of their pets and livestock.

Night-time temperatures will not drop below 15 degrees in most areas.

Leinster and Co Tipperary are under a status yellow high temperature alert until Friday morning, while a hosepipe ban remains in effect for the entire country.

Alan O'Reilly from Carlow Weather, says conditions could become more volatile later today. "There will also be a risk of showers, especially in the west and north, but possibly in the midlands, and there is a risk some of these could turn thundery, with a risk of local downpours."

Friday will still be warm but not as hot, with highest temperatures set to range from 17 degrees in the northwest up to 24 or 25 degrees in the south and east.

It comes as the UK recorded its hottest day of the year so far, with temperatures provisionally reaching 38.1 degrees at Kew Gardens in London, the British Met Office said.

The new high is the second time this year the country has seen temperatures reach 38 degrees, and it surpasses the previous hottest day of 2026 when 38 degrees was recorded in the late June heatwave as the UK struggled under a rare “red warning” for extreme temperatures.

The only other time temperatures have reached 38 degrees twice in a year was in 2022 when the UK recorded its hottest ever temperatures, the Met Office said.

It also means Thursday is the fifth hottest day on record.

The latest record comes as much of England is under an amber warning for extreme heat, in the face of the fifth heatwave in a summer which has also been marked by extremely dry weather and drought for much of England and Wales.