European weather: What is the forecast for your holiday?

Weather records have been broken all over Europe, most of them unwanted. A record warm June in Ireland was followed by a record wet July. Meanwhile, southern Europe scorched in some of the highest temperatures ever seen on the Continent.

It is all related, said Met Éireann forecaster Liz Walsh. High pressure in southern Europe is bringing the hot weather there, but it means Ireland is right in the middle of the jet stream which is driving rain belts across the country.

“The heatwaves in southern Europe have been persistent. We really have to get something to push us on to the southern side of the jet stream,” Ms Walsh said.

“Unfortunately, we are still in the jet stream and it is driving low pressure towards us. That does not look like changing much over the coming weeks. There is no prolonged settled season we can see.”

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Ireland will have a brief respite from the damp weather on Wednesday and Thursday before normal service for a soggy summer resumes. As for other parts of Europe, the forecast is quite different.

Spain/Portugal

A short but intense heatwave is expected in parts of Spain and Portugal this week. There have already been highs of 46 degrees in both countries on Sunday and Monday and widespread forest fires. It is the third heatwave to hit the Iberian Peninsula this summer. The heatwave is expected to exceed 40 degrees over the coming days, peaking on Wednesday. There are no heat warnings after Thursday in Spain.

Portugal, which has been ravaged by wildfires, will cool down too with temperatures in Lisbon expected to be about 31 degrees towards the end of the week. Elsewhere, temperatures of between 37-39 degrees have been forecast in eastern districts of Portugal’s north coast on Wednesday and Thursday.

[ Hottest July on record hits 1.5 degrees above pre-industrial age, new data shows ]

Italy

Italy is having another minor heatwave and temperatures in the south of the country will reach 38 degrees on Wednesday, but there will be no return to the widespread heat which saw warnings in many of the major tourist cities including Rome, Bologna and Venice during July.

There will be a notable east/west split in the Mediterranean. While the Iberian Peninsula will continue to have very high temperatures, values will be closer to normal in most parts of Italy when the Italians begin their traditional Ferragosto bank holiday this weekend which marks the start of the domestic tourist season.

[ Irish in Italy during heatwave: ‘I came for the food, the wine, the weather . . . I’m wavering on the weather’ ]

Greece

This year Athens had its hottest July since 1863. August began with Storm Petar which battered much of northern Greece with high winds and rain. Temperatures are likely to be notably cooler this week, though still very hot. It may be a brief respite as Bloomberg is anticipating another heatwave in Greece in the second half of August.

[ Greece wildfires: ‘We got on the bus with people clambering to get on but no idea where it was taking us’ ]

Croatia

Temperatures in Croatia will be average for the time of year and no heatwaves are anticipated.

Turkey

Turkey has had a lot of very hot weather this summer. This week temperatures are expected to return to normal with an average of 30 degrees in Istanbul and 28 degrees in coastal resorts.