Ireland is “potentially far from done yet” with the drought period the country experienced over the last number of weeks, researchers in the University of Maynooth have said.

In a blog post, researchers with the Irish Climate Analysis and Research Units at the university said that the seasonal forecasts for the coming two months show a real possibility of the meteorological setup that led to the current drought returning and persisting.

“Don’t be fooled by a week of recent rains. We are potentially far from done yet,” they said. A week of rain does not undo weeks of drought.

Examining the date recorded at the Phoenix Park weather station, the researchers said that Dublin remains in the grip of the one of the most intense flash droughts, probably the most, since at least the middle of the nineteenth century.

While large uncertainties exist in seasonal prediction systems, the current seasonal forecast output from the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration CFSv2 system, shows that in Ireland daily deficits of -0.2mm of rain per day are predicted for the next two months.

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