A spike in the number of deaths in recent weeks has disrupted funeral arrangements and put mortuaries under unprecedented stress.

An Irish Examiner analysis of death notices on the website rip.ie shows there were 9,718 published in the eight-week period from December 1, 2022, to January 25, 2023 — up 20% from 8,075 in the same period a year earlier.

The figure is also considerably higher than the 8,135 death notices published in the same period to January 25, 2021, when the country was in the grip of the worst period of the Covid pandemic.

Pre-pandemic, 6,802 death notices were published in the eight weeks to January 25, 2019, almost 3,000 fewer than in recent weeks.