2023-07-04 18:50:26
The Republic of Ireland, Northern Ireland, Scotland, Wales and England had not experienced such a hot month of June since… 1940. When General de Gaulle launched his famous appeal of 18 -June from London, the United Kingdom then recorded an average temperature of 14.9 ° C. A record that will only be equaled in June 1976 before being shattered by nearly one degree last month.
It averaged 15.8°C across the country in June 2023, 2.5°C warmer than the usual average for that time, according to the Met Office, Britain’s weather service. Provisional data from Met Éireann, the Irish meteorological service, announces an average temperature above 16°C over the past month, unprecedented.
Chain of extreme temperatures
In a press release published Monday, July 3the Met Office directly designates “the footprint of global warming” in this record month. Padraig Flattery, meteorologist at Met Éireann talks about “record temperatures year after year made much more likely by climate change”. It is the sequence of these extreme weather phenomena that worries the other side of the Channel, 2022 was already the hottest year in history in the United Kingdom and Ireland.
“The effects on agriculture and infrastructure are already visiblesays the scientist. Some farmers dig into their winter stock to feed their animals because the grass does not grow enough. It’s only going to get worse. »
In the United Kingdom, eight of the twelve months of the year broke their average temperature record since 2006. In the land of Clover, six months of the year saw record high temperatures since 2008. June temperatures have been higher than average for eight years now. Last year, during a scorching summer, England experienced temperatures above 40°C for the first time in its history, with 40.3°C in the north-east of the country.
Lack of rainfall
Beyond the heat, it is the lack of precipitation that threatens these islands, which are known for their humid climate. Of the four constituent nations of the UK, none reached their usual level of rain in June 2023. If 68% of the usual level of precipitation was reached across the country, it is only 51% in Wales to which must be added a rate of sunshine equal to 136% of the usual average. In Scotland, the sunshine rate even reaches 158%.
In Ireland, “most weather stations recorded below average rainfall” in June, according to Padraig Flattery. It is the result of a “combination of record high sea surface temperatures, caused by calm seas, and high atmospheric pressure resulting in clear skies”. The network of buoys installed on the Irish coast recorded temperatures of up to 2.5 ° C above average, it is “the worst marine heat wave in the history of Ireland”.
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