A marine heatwave has developed off the Irish coast, causing sea temperatures to rise.
Similar warmer water temperatures are also being detected in the North Sea, off the coast of the UK.
The US-based National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) has categorised it as a Category 4 marine heatwave, meaning water temperatures could go as high as 4° to 5°C above normal.
Source: NOAAMarine heatwaves are prolonged periods of very high sea surface temperatures.
The NOAA has said its daily global 5km-resolution Marine Heatwave Watch (MHW) provides a "general description of oceanic heat stress that can occur at any time of year, at any given location, and is likely applicable to and impacting a broader range of marine life."
Source: NOAAStorm Chaser Colin McCarthy has said these increases are part of a wider trend.
"This continues the trend of a record hot North Atlantic, as previous record high ocean temperature records continue to get shattered," he said on Twitter.
"At a global level, no ocean basin is seeing such widespread and intense marine heatwaves as the North Atlantic.
"Sea surface temperatures have skyrocketed to above normal levels across nearly every major European sea in the last month, especially in the Baltic Sea, North Sea and western Mediterranean Sea," he added.
