IT’S OFFICIAL – summer’s here. Most of the country basked in blue skies and warm temperatures yesterday as a mass of hot continental air moved in across the country.
And the good news is that Met Éireann is predicting the warm spell to continue for at least a week, with even hotter temperatures predicted for tomorrow and Saturday.
The unseasonably cold start to the month gave way to something of a mini heat wave yesterday, in Irish terms at least, with temperatures climbing as high as 21 degrees in some parts.
The highest maximum temperature recorded yesterday was 21.9 degrees in Belfast.
A maximum of 21.2 degrees was recorded in Dublin’s Phoenix Park and at Malin Head in Donegal, while Dublin airport reached a high of 20.5 degrees.
However, it remained slightly cooler along parts of the east coast and in the south generally due to onshore breezes, with some places experiencing patches of drizzle and sea fog.
Met Éireann forecaster Gerald Fleming said it would be dry, warm and sunny today, after a cloudy start, with highest temperatures of 18 to 22 degrees.
While temperatures at the beginning of the month were below average they will increase rapidly over the next few days, Mr Fleming said, with daytime temperatures expected to hit the mid-20s tomorrow and on Saturday.
“A mass of warmer continental air has come up over us and it’s going to get even warmer in the days ahead.
“We can look forward to temperatures touching the mid-20s in some places on Friday and Saturday.
“You wouldn’t exactly call it a heat wave,” he said, but it was being regarded as such given the very cold weather over the last six weeks when temperatures were three to four degrees below the average for the time of year.
Met Éireann said the generally dry, sunny weather would continue over the weekend, but there was still the risk of thundery showers breaking out, especially in southern parts.
It said the beginning of next week would also be dry, warm and sunny.
