The north has experienced the hottest June since records began, the UK Met Office has found.
The heatwave at the beginning of last month led to this June having an average mean temperature of 15.8°C, beating the previous record for June of 14.9°C, which was recorded in 1940 and 1976.
Current records began in 1884, and Met Office scientists found that the odds of seeing a record-breakiung June have at least doubled since 1940.
The north's highest June temperatures in five years were recorded on June 13th, with thermometries reaching 29C in Ballywatticock, Co Down.
The average highest temperature for the north last month was 21°C, with an average overall temperature for the whole of June at 16°C.
Last month was found to be the eighth sunniest for the north on record, with 228.7 hours of sunshine.
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Met Office chief meteorologist Paul Davies said human-induced climate change was driving up temperatures, and predicted even hotter years ahead.
“Using our UKCP18 climate projections, we can also see that there is a difference in the frequency of these sort of extremes depending on the emissions scenario we follow in the future," he said.
"By the 2050s the chance of surpassing the previous record of 14.9°C could be as high as around 50%, or every other year. Beyond the 2050s the likelihood is strongly governed by our emissions of greenhouse gasses, with the chance increasing further in a high emissions scenario but levelling off under mitigation.”
Met Office scientific manager Segolene Bethou said the temperatures led to a "severe" marine heatwave in mid-June.
She added: "Provisional findings from the Met Office suggest this marine heatwave in turn amplified land temperatures even further to the record levels seen during the month.”
