The Royal National Lifeboat Institution has urged people only to swim near lifeguards, warning that the sea is still dangerous no matter how hot the weather gets.
Ireland’s beaches get particularly crowded during sunny spells but the RNLI is concerned that people often forget the risks of swimming:
“If you head to the coast it’s really important that people understand the risk of the environment,” Gabbi Batchelor from the RNLI's Water Safety team told Newstalk.
“The fact [is] that the sea can be really unpredictable.
“So please head to a lifeguarded beach and swim between the red and yellow flags.
“So this is because it is the safest place to swim and it’s where the lifeguards will patrol and they’ve deemed it the best place for you to get into the water.”
Swimmers at the Forty Foot in Dublin, 22-02-2021. Image: Sasko Lazarov/RollingNewsShe continued:
“If you’re parents, make sure you stay together with your children.
“Supervise them at all times. We understand it’s incredibly easy to sort of relax down at the beach but please keep an eye on your children.
“And if you’re adults, then don’t under predict the sea; it’s very easy for you to put a lifejacket on your child and not on yourself but that’s not going to do you any good.”
People enjoy the warm weather at Seapoint in Dublin, 30-03-2021. Image: Niall Carson/PA Wire/PA ImagesHeatwave
A yellow status warning has been issued by Met Éireann as the temperature with the mercury hitting 28° in the midlands and could soar to as high as 30° on Monday.
“[It’ll be] quite a hot day tomorrow,” predicted Met Éireann's Aoife Kealy.
“And then again tomorrow night, a very warm night; temperatures tomorrow night won’t fall below 15-18° but there will be some spots where temperatures don’t fall below 19 or 20°.
“And when temperatures don’t fall below 20° at night we actually class that as a ‘tropical night’ - so quite a warm night on the way.”
Main image: People hit the beach Rosscarbery, West Cork to make the most of the hot weather, 10-07-2022. Image: AG News/Alamy Live News
