Warnings issued over forest fires in ongoing heatwave

The Department of Agriculture has issued an orange warning for fire due to ongoing warm dry weather.

The warning will be in effect until Thursday afternoon barring significant rainfall and the department urged people to be vigilant.

On Saturday afternoon, Dublin Fire Brigade responded to a number of forest fires, sending three engines to deal with a blaze near Saggart. A Coillte helicopter was also dispatched to the scene.

Crews were also called to a fire near the Puck’s Castle area at Barnaslingan Wood in Co Dublin.

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The fire brigade urged people not to light fires due to the conditions and to be careful if having a barbecue.

The warm weather is expected to continue into next week, with Met Éireann forecasting temperatures of 19-26 degrees on Sunday.

It said from Monday, right the way through until Saturday of next week, the weather would be dry and mostly sunny with temperatures hitting the mid to high 20s later in the week.