Ireland just had its hottest, driest summer month in decades and the numbers are stunning

Irish weather records fell across the board last month. New figures from the national forecaster show just how far July 2026 pushed Ireland's climate into uncharted territory.

According to Met Éireann's official climate statement, July 2026 was the second hottest July on record since 1900, and the third hottest month of any kind ever recorded in Ireland. The national mean temperature reached 17.25 degrees Celsius, putting it just behind August 1995's 17.75 degrees as the hottest month on record. For July specifically, only July 2013 was warmer, when the mean temperature hit 17.34 degrees, TheJournal.ie reports.

The heat was matched by an equally historic lack of rain. Just 16mm of rain fell on average across the country during the month, only 17 percent of the 1991 to 2020 average, making it the driest July ever recorded in Ireland. 

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Sandycove, Dublin.

Met Éireann said high pressure dominated the month, RTÉ reports, driving the national mean temperature to 2.4 degrees above the 1961 to 1990 long-term average and 1.87 degrees above the more recent 1991 to 2020 average.

Individual weather stations around the country recorded their own historic milestones. Cork Airport had its driest, warmest and sunniest month on record. Johnstown Castle in County Wexford had its driest and sunniest month on record, breaking the national record for sunniest month overall. Moore Park in County Cork and Oak Park in County Carlow each recorded their driest and warmest month on record. 

Dublin was not spared either. Phoenix Park and Casement Aerodrome both logged their warmest month on record along with their driest July on record, while Valentia Observatory in County Kerry and Roches Point in County Cork recorded their warmest July on record, with data at both Phoenix Park and Valentia stretching back 127 years. 

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Sunny weather in Stephen's Green, Dublin.

Heatwave conditions were widespread. Seven weather stations reported heatwaves lasting between five and 13 days. Moore Park experienced the second longest heatwave on record, with 13 days of sustained heat, according to Met Éireann.

The weather split the country in two for much of the month. The south and east experienced long dry spells of high temperatures and sunshine, while the north and west saw some rain and cloud, particularly early and late in July. In the final week, high pressure shifted to the southwest, bringing cloud along with some rain and showers.

The extreme heat followed weeks of warnings earlier in the summer. In mid-July, Met Éireann's meteorologists described a stretch of very warm, dry and settled weather driven by high pressure centered near the Faroe Islands, which pulled a warm and humid airmass into Ireland from continental Europe. Temperatures widely reached the 20s, with some areas nearing 30 degrees, and nights stayed unusually warm as well.

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Seapoint, Dublin.

The prolonged heat brought real consequences on the ground. Water restrictions were introduced at 13 supplies across the country, affecting counties including Kilkenny, Tipperary, Donegal, Cork and Meath, as authorities moved to manage demand during the dry spell. A hosepipe ban was also put in place nationally as the drought conditions worsened through July.

The heat carried tragic consequences too. A 15-year-old boy died after getting into difficulty in Lough Ree in County Westmeath during a weekend of high temperatures, one of several incidents that prompted Met Éireann to issue repeated water safety warnings alongside its heat alerts.

For the Irish diaspora watching from abroad, the images of scorched, straw colored grass in Dublin's parks and bone-dry fields across Cork and Wexford will look strikingly unfamiliar. Ireland's reputation as a land of forty shades of green has always rested on reliable rain, and July's records suggest that assumption is being tested.

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The Forty Foot, in south Dublin.

Met Éireann has linked the intensity of the month to the broader pattern scientists have been tracking for years. Extreme heat events are becoming more frequent and more intense due to climate change, as a warming atmosphere increases the likelihood of prolonged hot spells and shifts in established weather patterns.

Whether July 2026 becomes a one-off or a sign of things to come will depend on how the rest of the year unfolds. Met Éireann's seasonal outlook had already flagged that temperatures across July, August and September were likely to run above average, even as forecasters expected rainfall to pick back up later in the summer.

For now, the records stand. Ireland just had its driest July ever, its second hottest July in 126 years of data, and its third hottest month of any kind since records began. For a country long defined by its damp, green landscape, that is a remarkable shift, and one that Met Éireann and climate scientists will be watching closely in the months ahead.