Scorching temperatures in Europe not deterring Irish tourists from travelling - travel agents
Sarah Slater
Scorching temperatures in mainland Europe are not deterring Irish tourists from travelling, travel agents nationwide have found.
Temperatures have surged past 44°C in parts of Spain, Portugal, Italy, and France. Portugal and Spain recorded their hottest June ever.
Scientists said the extreme temperatures in the region were related to a "heat dome" over continental Europe.
A heat dome is an area of high-pressure air in the atmosphere which gets stuck in place over a region because atmospheric dynamics around it block it from moving. A heat dome results in clear, sunny days, and still conditions with little cooling wind.
Europe is the world's fastest-warming continent, heating up at twice the global average according to meteorologists.
Current seasonal forecasts for July, August and September indicate Europe is highly likely to experience a warmer than average summer, Dr Samantha Burgess, Strategic Lead for Climate at the EU's Copernicus Climate Change Service, told Reuters news agency.
Mary Denton, chief executive of Sunway Travel, one of the country's largest travel agents, explained that they “haven’t received any queries from customers asking to re-arrange their holiday dates or cancel due to the temperatures at their destination.”
Ms Denton added: “We have a lot of people due to travel this weekend (and) most of our customers will be going to Spain, Portugal, Turkey and Morocco.
“People are paying attention to what’s going around the world but it hasn’t put a stop to holidays and it isn’t dampening enthusiasm for summer holidays.
“Holiday resorts and hotels are well prepared and once customers are sensible and follow local advice they will enjoy their time away.”
The Central Statistics Office (CSO) has calculated that Irish people took more than 12 million overnight trips abroad in 2023 - many of them over the summer months.
Thomas Britton who owns Marble City Travel in Kilkenny revealed that people are “just powering ahead with their planned holidays. They want heat on their bones. Bookings are solid.”
Mr Britton warned that there are “cost implications” in postponing or cancelling holidays due to hot temperatures.
“Travel insurance companies will not cover postponing holidays due to the heat dome across Europe.”
His remarks were reiterated by travel expert Eoghan Corry, who outlined that holidaymakers “can’t cancel trips” due to the hot temperatures.
“Insurance will just not cover cancellations due to such temperatures. Unless they can show that the heat will seriously impact their heat with medical letters then insurance companies might consider cancellations or postponements”.
