"Certain diseases are controlled by frost and as we see less frost days, we are likely to see more plant diseases, " said John Sweeney of the Irish Climate Analysis and Research Unit (Icarus).

Such diseases will particularly affect Irish forests, which at the moment account for just nine percent of the Irish landscape. The government intends to have doubled this by 2030 but, while increased CO2 concentrations and warmer temperatures are expected to benefit forest growth, new pests and diseases could scupper these plans.

The European pine-saw fly and the great spruce bark beetle both prefer warmer climates and are predicted to arrive in Ireland in the coming decades. Diseases such as green spruce aphid, fomes fungus and phythopthera disease of the alder will all pose a threat to Irish forest growth.

As our temperatures increase, so too will the incidence of forest fires, which are already a major problem during dry weather. Every year, 450 hectares of forest are lost to fires and this looks set to worsen in the coming years.

In recent years, climate change has had a knock-on effect on many elements of nature, according to Anja Murray, ecological consultant with An Taisce.

"We have noticed, for instance, that the ash tree is flowering earlier all the time, " she said. "This mightn't seem like a big deal, but blue tits time their first brood to coincide with this flowering because their young are partial to the first flush of oak leaves. Now that it seems to be happening two weeks early, there is a high mortality rate amongst blue tits."

The warm weather that was followed by a cold snap last spring had an adverse effect on many plants and trees such as hawthorne, hazel and holly, meaning birds and insects dependent on these are now suffering. As our seasons have become more unpredictable, it is harder for plants and wildlife to adapt.

"Small changes in the weather may seem insignificant to us in the shelter of our homes and with the supermarket at hand, " said Murray.

"But it's very different in nature cycles, where even the slightest change can have a big impact."

In the last few years, chestnuts have started to ripen earlier and earlier as our climate warms up, meaning that the Irish Conker Championships . . . a longstanding hardy annual event . . . are now coming under threat as conkers may soon be too hard at the end of October to play with.

Already, the UK championship organisers are considering bringing the competition forward due to a shortage of suitable conkers and in future years Ireland may have to make similar decisions.

While such adaptations to climate change may seem small, they all form part of a bigger picture outlining how Ireland is likely to change in the coming decades, warned Sweeney.

"We are going to see an increase in the number of hot days we see each year, we're already seeing a 50% reduction in frost days and our growing season is going to continue to lengthen over the coming years, " he said. "These are all going to have an impact on our vegetation."