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.
A map showing water temperatures of the Irish coast. Picture by: NOAAThe US-based National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has said it is a Category 4 marine heatwave, meaning water temperatures could go as high as 4° to 5°C above normal.
Marine heatwaves are prolonged periods of very high sea surface temperatures.
Storm 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.
