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5th July 2018
09:50am BST
We never thought we'd see the day.
Ireland is officially in drought after 15 days of no rain recorded at 24 out of 25 weather stations.
The heatwave has forced Irish Water to extend the hosepipe ban (also known as a national conservation ban) to all counties from Friday as many water sources have already dried up.
During long periods without rain, our water sources can start to dry up. These images of the Lough Easkey source in Sligo show how much water levels are decreasing in rivers and lakes across the country. Water is a precious resource #ConserveWater pic.twitter.com/MsfNl7X8JZ
— Irish Water (@IrishWater) July 4, 2018
It has been confirmed that a National Water Conservation Order will be in place from 8am on 6 July until midnight on 31 July 2018 for all domestic public water supplies and commercial premises for non-commercial activities. Find out more at https://t.co/BCQhlDOmSN #ConserveWater
— Irish Water (@IrishWater) July 4, 2018
The hot and dry weather is forecast to last for at least another 10 days with many experts saying that we will have problems with water supply in September and October.
The ban is due to last until the 31st of July.
According to the Irish Times, an absolute drought is defined as 15 or more days in a row of less than 0.2mm of rain.
The weather station in Belmullet Co. Mayo is the only station where rainfall was recorded in the last two weeks. However, some Munster counties experienced short showers yesterday evening.
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