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The Irish Sun
3 days ago
- Climate
- The Irish Sun
Heatwave to start from TODAY with Ireland to sizzle in ‘glorious' 24C heat as Met Eireann pinpoint four warmest areas
IRELAND is set for a heatwave from today with temperatures soaring to 24C in a "glorious day". The conditions are set to last well into next week with temperatures only Advertisement 3 It will get very warm tomorrow Credit: Meteologix 3 But real heatwave conditions will start from today Credit: Meteologix Today will be a dry and warm day with "good sunshine" beaming across the country. Met Eireann have promised temperatures are set to reach 20C to 22C country wide and that some places could even be looking at 23C to 24C temperatures. In northern and northwestern parts it will be slightly cooler with some rain and cloud possible. Even here, temperatures will still be up as high as 18C. Advertisement READ MORE IN NEWS Alan O'Reilly of Ireland's Weather Channel also weighed in on the sunny conditions expected for today. The weather expert said on X: "Some showers in the Northwest but further South it is going to be a glorious day." Tonight it will remain mild at 12C and lingering cloud and drizzle will clear. The real heatwave conditions will get underway on Thursday and Friday with temperatures up to 26C "or higher" in parts according to Advertisement MOST READ ON THE IRISH SUN Exclusive Breaking Warning Meteorologist Cathal Nolan of Ireland's Weather Channel outlined exactly what can be expected from the summer heat blast. Ireland to bask in 25C heatwave for at least five days as warmest areas pinpointed & temps hotter than Tenerife He explained: "Thursday and Friday will be both very warm or locally hot days with temperatures generally reaching between 23C to 26C, but locally reaching up to 27C or even 28C in prolonged spells of sunshine or areas northwest of high ground." The weather expert also revealed when we will start to see a change in our He said: "The weekend remains very warm but increasingly humid with some models indicating a risk of thunderstorms developing through Saturday as a trough emerges from the Bay of Biscay, something we'll be keeping a close eye on. Advertisement "Thereafter the ECMWF keeps things warm or very warm but humid until next Wednesday, whereas the GFS shows a breakdown occurring late on Sunday. "Either way, we have some very pleasant summer conditions ahead of us through this week." Even on Thursday night temperatures will not drop below 16C in clear and dry conditions. Deirdre Lowe, Meteorologist with Met Eireann, has been able to pinpoint exactly where the best conditions will hit. Advertisement She explained: "Temperatures reaching the mid 20s or higher in the midlands, west and north." WEEKEND OUTLOOK As Cloud and sunny spells with a scattering of showers will kickstart Saturday. The chance of some of those heavy or thundery downpours will feed up from the south as the day progresses. Advertisement However, even with those conditions temperatures will still remain very warm at 23C. On Sunday then a mix of cloud and sunny spells with a few showers are expected. It will be "a bit fresher" with highest temperatures of 16C to 21C in moderate westerly breezes. Current indications do suggest temperatures will rise back up slightly to 23C on Monday. Advertisement 3 Hot weather could last in to next week Credit: Getty Images
GMA Network
5 days ago
- Climate
- GMA Network
PANaHON: PAGASA upgrades weather tracker amid rainy season
State weather bureau PAGASA has upgraded its interactive weather tracker for more accuracy and accessibility. The PAGASA National Hydro-Met Observing Network (PANaHON) shows near real-time information from PAGASA's weather stations across the country, displaying details on rainfall, temperature, humidity, and wind. It also provides weather forecasts using data from the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF). Launched on Monday, PANaHON's enhancements feature gridded forecast integration, offering improved spatial accuracy for rainfall accumulation, temperature, wind, and pressure. Users can now utilize its clickable grid points, time slider, and location-based search functions in navigating the interactive map. All regional warnings are consolidated into a centralized alert system labeled in color-coded markers with hazard information, making critical weather advisories more accessible. Using PANaHON, users can check current and forecasted weather conditions. It can also help with early warnings and better decision-making during weather-related events. 'These upgrades aim to improve public access to accurate weather information and support local planning, risk reduction, and disaster preparedness efforts nationwide,' PAGASA said in a statement. —Mariel Celine Serquiña/RF, GMA Integrated News
The Verge
12-06-2025
- Science
- The Verge
Google has a new AI model and website for forecasting tropical storms
Google is using a new AI model to forecast tropical cyclones and working with the US National Hurricane Center (NHC) to test it out. Google DeepMind and Google Research launched a new website today called Weather Lab to share AI weather models that Google is developing. It says its new, experimental AI-based model for forecasting cyclones — also called typhoons or hurricanes when they reach a certain strength — can generate 50 different scenarios for a storm's possible track, size, and intensity up to 15 days in advance. The NHC is working with Google to evaluate the effectiveness of the model. The collaboration comes after the Trump administration and DOGE slashed the National Weather Service's staff and capacity for federal climate and weather research. Other companies and weather agencies are also exploring whether AI can improve forecasts, but technological advances so far don't eliminate the need for traditional weather models. Google released a research paper today, which has yet to be peer-reviewed, on how its tropical cyclone model works. It claims that its model's predictions are at least as accurate as those of traditional physics-based models. We'll have to see what the National Hurricane Center's rating of it is as the Atlantic hurricane season churns through November. For now, the aim is to strengthen NHC's forecasting in order to give people more accurate warnings and time to prepare for a storm. According to Google, its model's five-day predictions for cyclone tracks in the North Atlantic and East Pacific were 87 miles (140 km) closer, on average, to the storm's actual track than predictions from the European Center for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF) in 2023 and 2024. Weather Lab's interactive website lets people see how AI models compare to the ECMWF's physics-based models. But Google is emphasizing that its website is just a research tool for now — not something the public should rely on for forecasts. Google's cyclone model is trained on data from Europe's ERA5 archive, which includes hundreds of millions of observations collected by weather agencies around the world combined with predictions from a traditional weather model. The company also used ERA5 to train its previous AI weather prediction model GenCast. That model outperformed one of ECMWF's leading physics-based models 97.2 percent of the time, according to research published in the journal Nature in December 2024. Animation showing the Google model's prediction for Cyclone Alfred when it was a Category 3 cyclone in the Coral Sea. The model's ensemble mean prediction (bold blue line) correctly anticipated Cyclone Alfred's rapid weakening to tropical storm status and eventual landfall near Brisbane, Australia, seven days later, with a high probability of landfall somewhere along the Queensland coast. Credit: Google The company says it's also working with the Cooperative Institute for Research in the Atmosphere at Colorado State University and other researchers in the UK and Japan to improve its AI weather models. The importance of real-world observations and older weather models in developing these new kinds of tools is one reason why AI is so far only poised to assist traditional weather forecasting instead of replacing it. Adjusting to a changing climate will also hinge on the ability to collect and analyze new data on increasingly extreme and erratic weather events. How well the US can keep up with this kind of research, however, is a growing concern under the Trump administration. DOGE's rampage through the federal government has taken its toll at the federal agency that houses the NHC and the National Weather Service, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). The National Weather Service reduced the number of weather balloon launches after staffing cuts, and NOAA is increasingly relying on weather balloon data from private companies. Project 2025 called for dismantling NOAA — which leads climate research on top of providing weather forecasts — and privatizing much of its services. Some advocates are raising alarm over the prospect of turning weather forecasts into a paid product instead of a free service available to anyone and everyone. 'For a long time, weather has been viewed as a public good, and I think, you know, most of us agree with that … Hopefully we can contribute to that, and that's why we're trying to kind of partner with the public sector,' Peter Battaglia, a research scientist at Google DeepMind, said in a press call when The Verge asked about concerns surrounding privatizing weather services. Tellingly, Google's announcement today doesn't mention the climate crisis like the company has in previous launches for this kind of program. 'As climate change drives more extreme weather events, accurate and trustworthy forecasts are more essential than ever,' it said in a December 4 announcement for GenCast.
Irish Times
11-06-2025
- Climate
- Irish Times
Drought fears in Europe amid reports May was world's second hottest ever
It has been an exceptionally dry spring in north-western Europe and the second warmest May ever globally, according to the Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S). Countries across Europehave been hit by drought conditions in recent months, with water shortages feared unless significant rain comes this summer, and crop failures beginning to be reported by farmers. The new Copernicus data shows that May 2025 was the second-warmest May globally, with an average surface air temperature of 15.79 degrees, 0.53 degrees above the 1991-2020 average for May. The month was 1.4 degrees above the estimated 1850-1900 average used to define the pre-industrial level. This interrupts a period of 21 months out of 22 where the global average temperature was more than 1.5C above the pre-industrial level. Carlo Buontempo, director of C3S at the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF), said: 'May 2025 breaks an unprecedentedly long sequence of months over 1.5 degrees above pre-industrial. Whilst this may offer a brief respite for the planet, we do expect the 1.5 degrees threshold to be exceeded again in the near future due to the continued warming of the climate system.' READ MORE [ Climate change adds to Syria's problems as Damask rose harvests fade Opens in new window ] The 1.5 degrees is the climate target agreed by the 2015 Paris agreement. The target of 1.5 degrees is measured over a decade or two, so a single year above that level does not mean the target has been missed, but does show the climate emergency continues to intensify. Every year in the past decade has been one of the 10 hottest, in records that go back to 1850. Dry weather has persisted in many parts of the world. In May 2025, much of northern and central Europe as well as southern regions of Russia, Ukraine, and Turkey were drier than average. Parts of north-western Europe experienced the lowest precipitation and soil moisture levels since at least 1979. In May 2025, it was drier than average in much of north America, in the Horn of Africa and across central Asia, as well as in southern Australia, and much of both southern Africa and South America. May also saw abnormally high sea surface temperatures in the north-eastern Atlantic, reaching the highest ever recorded, according to Copernicus. - Guardian
The Citizen
09-06-2025
- Climate
- The Citizen
Snow still possible in Gauteng TODAY
Gauteng residents, keep your eyes on the skies — snow is still possible today. Forecasters say the cold front gripping much of the country could bring light snowfall or icy precipitation to parts of Gauteng, especially in southern areas and the Highveld. While weather models differ, one still shows flakes falling before the day is out. Here's the latest update on what to expect and where conditions are most likely to turn wintry. Vox Weather's Michelle du Plessis said the ECMWF model was on Sunday once again hinting at the possibility of a few snowflakes in Gauteng. 'However, rain is also expected in these regions, which means any snow that does fall may melt quickly due to wet conditions.' Send us your weather photos and videos to on WhatsApp on 083 625 4114 or email to bennittb@ She explained that on Sunday evening, a strong cut-off low (COL) pressure system is expected to develop over the western interior, following this past weekend's cold front. 'The system will move slowly eastwards across the central interior and is expected to exit the country by Tuesday morning near the Wild Coast and southern coast of KwaZulu-Natal.' Du Plessis furthermore said the biggest danger associated with this system is the tail of the COL, also known as the scorpion tail, which will bring the heaviest rain (100MM or more) from Monday evening into Tuesday morning over the central and eastern parts of the Eastern Cape, including OR Tambo, Amathole, Buffalo City, and surrounding municipalities. 'Widespread rain of up to 50MM is also likely in parts of the south-eastern Northern Cape, southern Free State, and southern KwaZulu-Natal. 'Freezing levels are expected to drop significantly on Monday, with widespread and HEAVY SNOW still likely over the northern high ground of the Eastern Cape, the southern Drakensberg, as well as the south-western and western high ground of KwaZulu-Natal and Lesotho. The heaviest snowfall is expected around Barkly East in the Eastern Cape (more than 50CM) and in Lesotho (20–50CM).' On Sunday she said models continue to indicate the likelihood of light snow over the northern and eastern parts of the Northern Cape, across much of the Free State, and parts of the North West. Authorities urge South Africans to prepare for widespread frost, strong winds, and icy conditions into the week, and to closely monitor updates as forecasts continue to evolve. Here is where you will find snow: In the Western Cape: Matroosberg, Cederberg, Swartberg In the Northern Cape: Nuweveld and Roggeveld mountain including the town of Sutherland, the Great Karoo The high-lying areas in the Cape provinces: around Fraserburg, Loxton, Murraysburg, Richmond, Noupoort, Colesberg, Burgersdorp, Aliwal North, Molteno and surroundings. Lesotho could experience snow depths exceeding 50cm on Monday, particularly around Afri Ski, and in the Eastern Cape may expect between 50cm of snow over the southern Drakensberg and nearby towns. Including Barkly East. A mixture of snow/ ice rain and sleet is now possible over southern and eastern Free State: Bethlehem, Warden, Heilbron, Reitz, Memel, Reddersburg, Trompsburg and surrounding towns. It includes north-eastern parts of the Northern Cape, around Postmasburg and Kuruman. Meanwhile, the South African Weather Service has issued a Yellow Level 1 warning for damaging coastal winds from Saldanha Bay to Cape Agulhas, and icy road conditions are expected across several interior districts, especially around Beaufort West. With snowfall already likely over Lesotho and nearby areas by Sunday and heavier falls predicted through next week, South Africans are advised to monitor updates closely and prepare for travel disruptions, icy roads, and sudden temperature drops. Also read: Snow confirmed in parts of SA – here are the photos Do you have more information about the story? Please send us an email to bennittb@ or phone us on 083 625 4114. For free breaking and community news, visit Rekord's websites: Rekord East For more news and interesting articles, like Rekord on Facebook, follow us on Twitter or Instagram or TikTok. At Caxton, we employ humans to generate daily fresh news, not AI intervention. Happy reading! Stay in the know. Download the Caxton Local News Network App Stay in the know. Download the Caxton Local News Network App here
