The funding aims to make Ireland more resilient in the face of growing climate challenges.
Met Éireann, Ireland’s national meteorological service, has awarded six university projects from the University of Galway (UG), the University College Cork (UCC) and Maynooth University a total of €2.8m in research funding.
Using funding from the Met Éireann Research Call 2024, the research projects will focus on environmental sustainability and further developing Ireland’s climate-related services, particularly modern flood-forecasting models, as the climate changes and the region experiences more extreme weather events.
Met Éireann’s Weather and Climate Research Programme aims to strengthen national research capacity and scientific expertise in weather and climate, through high-impact projects.
Under the leadership of Dr Indiana Olbert, with a grant of €399,976, scientists at the University of Galway will research the growing threat of compound coastal-fluvial flooding, which is where rivers and streams, in instances of heavy rainfall, break their banks and flood adjacent, low-lying areas, in combination with coastal flooding.
UG will develop an advanced, integrated flood-forecasting system that leverages both process-driven and AI-based models to overcome unreliable warnings and better predict risks created by combined weather events.
ClimEnergise, a project emerging from UCC, led by Dr Vahid Aryanpur, received €299,546, to address the growing vulnerability of Ireland’s energy sector amid increasingly volatile weather events, with particular focus on electrification and the reliance on weather-dependent renewables. The project will look at weather fluctuations and events to translate them into actionable strategies that improve energy security, affordability and resilience, ensuring alignment with Ireland’s 2050 climate neutrality goals.
Prof Conor Murphy, at Maynooth University and his team received €599,704, to further strengthen Ireland’s ability to understand and prepare for weather extremes. The Extremes Across Climates and Timeframes (EXACT) project will combine Ireland’s extensive historical climate records with Met Éireann’s TRANSLATE climate projections to assess how events such as floods, droughts and other climate extremes have evolved over time.The research will focus on events where multiple climate hazards occurred together or in close succession, for example heavy rainfall following drought, heatwaves or dry conditions – in other words, compound extremes.
Commenting, Prof Murphy said, “With climate extremes becoming more frequent and complex, there is an urgent need to understand not just how these events are changing, but how they impact people, places and sectors across Ireland.
“Through EXACT, we aim to bridge scientific research and practical decision-making by developing accessible storylines of past and future extremes. These will help support climate services, guide adaptation and ultimately contribute to building a more climate-resilient Ireland.”
Other scientists awarded by the Met Éireann programme include UCC’s Dr Paraic Ryan for building resilience in relation to extreme weather events, UCC’s Dr Paul Holloway for work on climate services across multiple sectors and UG’s Dr Paul Nolan, who is focused on delivering updated climate projections and related products for Ireland over the next four years.
Eoin Moran, the director of Met Éireann, congratulated the research teams on winning the funding. said “We look forward to the significant advancements each institution will contribute to our collective understanding of weather, climate and environmental systems.
“These research projects represent critical contributions to both national and international efforts to address climate change, extreme weather and environmental sustainability.”
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