Grab those shades and slap on that sunscreen, it looks like summer could finally be here.
Temperatures are expected to rise to 21 degrees over the weekend following the coldest and dullest April in decades.
Thursday will be dry and bright with top temperatures of 12 to 16 degrees and moderate to fresh south to southwest breezes.
This dry weather will continue into Friday with sunny spells and temperatures reaching 17 degrees. However, there is a risk of some showers breaking out along the southeast and east coasts before nightfall.
Warm and humid weather will spread across the country early next week with good spells of sunshine as continental air feeds in over Ireland. There will be some heavy showers with longer bursts of thundery rain also expected. Temperatures are expected reach the early 20s by Sunday with the warm weather continuing into next week.
A Met Éireann report showed it was the coldest April in Dublin in 16 to 30 years with mean temperatures between 1 to 1.5 degrees below average.
Forecaster John Eagleton said the best days would be next Monday and Tuesday before conditions settle.
“The charts are showing us it will reach 21 degrees and 22 degrees. It may not be as high in Dublin because the winds will be easterly, but certainly in the midlands and the west of the country, that is what we are forecasting.”
Ireland will “get some of what they (Britain) are getting” across the water, Mr Eagleton said.
“Maybe we are getting an Irish heatwave,” he joked. “The Italians would laugh at it, but we’ll take whatever we can get.”
Mr Eagleton said it had been a late spring, which is not unheard of.
“This will make up for it now - there will be a real burst of growth,” he said.
Some showers of rain are expected over the weekend, the majority on Saturday, but it will be mainly dry and mild.
Official figures released by Met Éireann on Wednesday showed temperatures dropped as low as -3 degrees in Sligo last month.
Dublin recorded coldest April in 27 years — with ground frost recorded in the capital on 23 days of the month.
The city also endured its dullest April since 1998, according to records from the weather station at Casement Aerodrome
Cork Airport recorded the month’s overall wettest day on the 10th at 44.1mm, the wettest April day since 1978.
Additional reporting: PA
