Weather-wise, Ireland has had a fairly miserable Friday morning, but in keeping with the vagaries of September, things should look very different before the day is out.
As schools slowly grind into life, there is a sense of the summer being over and autumn closing in, but the good news is there is still at least one more decent weekend left.
Met Éireann forecasters are saying that for anyone peering out their windows at heavy rain on Friday morning, things are looking up later on.
“It’s blustery. There are scattered showers around; it’s similar to yesterday,” said Sinéad Duffy of Met Éireann early on Friday, but “the showers are kind of petering out this afternoon”.
That easing of showers will begin along the west coast as the dark clouds clear and dry weather begins to take a hold – in most cases for the duration of the weekend.
It is no beach weather, however – temperatures are due to remain relatively subdued – but there will be one last chance to enjoy the outdoors before the classrooms beckon.
“[It will be] cool because we have these northerly winds bringing down that cool air,” said Ms Duffy .
Clear skies will remain over Saturday night bringing similar conditions on Sunday, but again with temperatures generally loitering in the low teens.
“The best of the weather [is] over the weekend. It’s dry to start on Monday, and then rain and drizzle pushes in,” Ms Duffy said.
“The east will have the best early in the day, and then rain pushes in across the country.
“In the east it’s looking like people dropping kids off to school might get some dry weather, but it’s still a few days away so keep an eye on the forecast. Although it has looked like that for a few days, it’s been consistent.”
Now, everyone’s prayers will focus on the prospect of an Indian summer given the mixed bag of summer weather. While no data is available yet for August, everyone will agree it has been dull and wet.
The outlook further into next week remains uncertain, but Tuesday looks a lot like Friday – cloudy with outbreaks of rain and drizzle in the east, eventually brightening up. Temperatures begin to pick up again, however, reaching between 15 and 19 degrees.
Later in the week looks like bringing more rain and average temperatures.
