The first water restrictions of the current hot spell in Donegal are due to come into effect this evening.
Donegal County Council has confirmed that conservation measures may cause supply disruptions to Ballybofey, Stranorlar and surrounding areas.
Restrictions are scheduled to take place nightly from midnight until 7am, from tonight until Monday, 15 August.
‘Very hot weekend’
Meanwhile, a Senior Forecaster with Met Éireann has warned there is “a very hot weekend in store” right across the country.
Speaking on RTÉ’s News at One, Gerry Murphy said: “All the indications are that, for most of the country, temperatures are going to continue to reach between about 27C to 30C with the highest in mainly Leinster and Munster,”
At present, the hottest sport in Ireland for the third consecutive day is Oak Park in Carlow at 30C “and rising” according to Met Éireann.
“This is followed closely by Moore Park, Co Cork with 29.7°C.”
It is the first time since 1995 Ireland has seen over 30C during two summer months, and the first time since 1976 it has been over 30C during two consecutive summer months.
Temperatures also soared to 30C yesterday and the forecaster said there will be similar highs over the coming days.
The high temperature warning follows an alert for Leinster and Munster which has been in place since yesterday.
With increasing demand on water supplies during this hot spell, Irish Water is appealing to people to conserve water as much as possible.
It said there are 24 areas affected by water shortages and has implemented a range of measures, such as night-time restrictions to protect supplies.
The organisation said average water usage in Dublin has increased by millions of litres per day.
The utility’s National Incident Management Team met this morning and warned that 32 supplies nation-wide are now in drought, with dozens more in potential drought.
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