Members of the public have been advised not to swim at Sandycove Beach in South Dublin after high bacteria levels were detected in the water.
Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council said people should not enter the water at the popular Sandycove swimming spot, although no problem was detected with the water quality at the neighbouring Forty Foot bathing area.
The warning comes as temperatures dropped slightly on Saturday, with Met Éireann forecasting “fresh and breezy” conditions and highest temperatures reaching between 13 and 16 degrees. It also said there would be isolated showers in some places.
Saturday night is set to be dry and cool, however some light showers will develop on western and northern coastal areas.
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Sunday will be slightly warmer with highest temperatures ranging between 14 and 18 degrees and dry weather across most of the country. The morning will be cloudy but sunny intervals are expected later in the day.
The national forecaster has described next week’s weather as “changeable” with a “good deal of dry weather” but temperatures will become milder and reach the low teens and twenties as the week progresses. The warmer weather will be accompanied by some drizzle which will turn to rain on Tuesday and Wednesday.
Meanwhile, Continent Europeans are bracing themselves for record temperatures over the coming days with Spain headed for its hottest early summer temperatures in four decades.
Temperatures were due to reach 40 to 42 degrees in Madrid and Zaragoza, in central and eastern Spain respectively, the Spanish national weather agency AEMET said. Those would be levels not seen so early in the year since 1981.
In France, the Gironde department around Bordeaux prohibited public events including concerts and those at indoor venues without air conditioning, a local official said.
Temperatures in many of France’s areas hit 40 degrees for the first time this year on Thursday and were expected to peak on Saturday, climbing to 41-42 degrees. A record night temperature for June, 26.8 degrees, was recorded in Tarascon, southern France.
Further east, Northern Italian regions risk losing up to half their agricultural output due to a drought, a farm lobby said, as lakes and rivers start to run dangerously low, jeopardising irrigation.
The heatwave has also piled pressure on energy systems as demand for air-conditioning risks driving prices higher, adding to the challenge of building up stocks to protect against any further cuts to Russian gas supplies.
Back in Ireland, the Irish Coast Guard and Water Safety Ireland have issued an appeal for people to take extra care at waterways nationwide.
Some 79 people drowned in Ireland last year, three more than in 2020, while a total of 1,108 people have drowned over the past decade. Drownings are a “significant public health issue” and a “tragic unnecessary loss of life”, said Water Safety Ireland’s acting chief executive Roger Sweeney earlier this week.
“Drownings can happen quickly and silently and warmer weather sometimes lulls people into a false sense of security, however waterways are still quite cool which affects the muscles needed to swim safely back to shore,” he said.
People should always swim at lifeguarded waterways or in designated bathing areas that are known to be safe and have ringbuoys present. They should also stay within their depth, supervise children closely and never use inflatable toys on open water, he added.
Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council said the bathing prohibition notices at Sandycove Beach would remain in place for four days.
“Elevated” levels of bacteria in the water were detected this week after samples were taken from the water on Wednesday, June 15th. The council said it believed the rise in bacteria was due to contamination from animals and birds as storm overflows had not occurred in recent days.
