Irish Water extends hosepipe ban to rest of country as heatwave continues The vast majority of the country officially enters a state of “absolute drought” today with no rainfall recorded at 24 out of 25 weather stations during the last two weeks.
The extreme weather conditions have prompted Irish Water to expand a hosepipe ban from the Greater Dublin Area to the whole country from Friday morning.
From 8am on Friday the use of hoses in nearly all circumstances will be banned across the country.
On average, demand across all water resources nationally has increased by 15 per cent, a level Irish Water said “cannot be sustained for any period of time”.
An absolute drought is defined as 15 or more consecutive days of less than 0.2mm of rainfall.
The average top temperatures will be around 27 or 28 degrees.
Humidity levels will remain low meaning the heat will not be clammy or sticky, he said.
Households ignoring the ban can be fined €125, and prosecuted if they fail to pay the fine.
Yesterday parents were told to take “extreme care” in protecting their children from the sun’s harmful rays during the heatwave.
The Marie Keating Foundation cancer support group said infants and children should be kept out of the sun between 11am and 3pm and factor 50 sunscreen should be applied every two hours.