Six-week hosepipe ban for parts of Ireland
A six-week “hosepipe ban” will come into effect for large parts of the country from Thursday.
Uisce Éireann confirmed that the water conservation order will be in place for Dublin and south Tipperary – as well as parts of Kildare, Meath, Wexford and Wicklow – until the end of August 26th.
It said the order, commonly referred to as a “hosepipe ban”, is being introduced to “safeguard public water supplies for essential purposes following a period of exceptionally warm and dry weather”.
It said the spell of hot weather led to “significantly increased water use” across the affected areas and placed “sustained pressure” on water treatment plants, reservoirs and the wider network.
It said domestic customer water use is also around 20 per cent above typical levels nationwide, driven largely by “non-essential outdoor use”.
The water conservation order prohibits the use of garden hosepipes and other non-essential uses of water by domestic users and commercial premises for non-commercial activities.
This includes watering a garden, cleaning a car with a hose, and filling a paddling pool.
Breaches of the order could result in a fine of up to €5,000.
Outside of the affected areas, Uisce Éireann is appealing to all customers nationwide to reduce non-essential water use while supplies remain under pressure.
Meanwhile, a high temperature advisory is in place nationwide until Friday.
A status-yellow high temperature warning is also place for Cork, Kerry, Limerick, Galway, and Mayo until 7am on Wednesday.
Met Éireann said this would see maximum temperatures of over 27C, with overnight minimum temperatures of at least 15C, and warned that this will lead to heat stress, water safety issues, forest fires and uncomfortable sleeping conditions.
Meteorologist Rebecca Cantwell told RTÉ that “the end is not near, as of yet” and that the “good weather keeps on coming”, adding that areas of high pressure could continue into next week.
She said there could also be further warnings issued later in the week.
Apart from some light rain and the possibility of a few thunderstorms, this week will remain dry and largely sunny.
The HSE has advised people to be aware of the increased risk of dehydration, heat exhaustion, heatstroke and sunburn.
A temperature of 30 degrees was recorded at the Met Éireann weather station on Valentia, Co Kerry, on Sunday.
The temperature reading requires verification but was described as a provisional station record by the forecaster in a post on X.
Here are the maximum air temperatures across our synoptic weather stations todayð¡ï¸â¬ï¸
A provisional station record has been broken today at Valentia, Co Kerry with 30°C recorded. The previous record for Valentia was 29.8°C recorded in Aug 1955. pic.twitter.com/zYKDcLP6cC
— Met Éireann (@MetEireann) July 12, 2026
Alan O'Reilly from Carlow Weather said the sunshine looks set to continue into the weekend, and possibly into next week too.
O'Reilly said: "At the moment, the models pretty much agree that it [the warm weather] is going to continue into the weekend. We might see temperatures easing off a little bit for a few days, but you're talking about easing off into 24 or 25 degrees, rather than 28 or 29 [degrees].
"But at the moment weekend is looking pretty good. Some of the weather models actually reload the high pressure and the heat back over us again for the following weeks, so to be honest there is no real end in sight at the moment."
A weather advistory from Met Éireann reads: "A prolonged spell of very warm or hot weather will continue this weekend lasting into next week. Daytime maxima will widely exceed 25 degrees with values reaching the high 20s, and possibly 30 degrees, in places. The UV Index is expected to be high to very high. Warm and humid nights will occur with minima of 15 degrees or higher. There is the chance of thunderstorms developing on Wednesday and Thursday."
The national forecaster said potential impacts include:
• Water safety issues due to increased use of waterways, lakes and beaches.
• Uncomfortable sleeping conditions.
• Heat stress and dehydration, especially for the vulnerable and elderly.
• Potential disruption to public transport.
• Animal welfare issues.
• Potential drought concerns.
• Potential wildfires and forest fires.
