It was the hottest day of the year yesterday – and the country seemed to more or less grind to a halt as people rushed to parks and beaches to bask in the sunshine.
Temperatures reached 30.4 degrees in Mount Dillon – the hottest in the country – while the rest of us had to “make do” with heat in the mid-to-high twenties.
The highest temperature recorded at our stations today: 30.4 degrees at Mount Dillon in Co. Roscommon
— Met Éireann (@MetEireann) July 19, 2016
But let’s be honest: a heatwave on a Tuesday isn’t worth a damn to any of us. The real question is: will the hot spell still be here at the weekend when we can really make plans to avail of it?
Well, as is always the case with our summer climate, the forecast is very mixed.
https://twitter.com/Tweet_Dec/status/755438382935838720
A lot of us would have woken up to rain and cloud clover last night and early this morning, while there has been a small but noticeable drop in temperature.
Met Eireann’s forecast for today has it as:
…”humid and cloudy in parts at first with some bursts of rain. Brighter fresher weather in the west will extend to all areas by early afternoon bringing sunny spells and a few showers. Highest temperatures will range 18 degrees to 22 degrees, best values in the east. Winds will be light to moderate and mainly westerly in direction.”
Cloudy at first but gradually brightening through the day with good sunshine this afternoon/evening, just a few passing showers. Highs18-22C
— Met Éireann (@MetEireann) July 20, 2016
There will be more outbreaks of rain tonight, leading to a cloudy Thursday, “with outbreaks of rain in the west extending eastwards during the morning and early afternoon, breaking up in to showers, some of which will be heavy, then brightening up from the west later.” The highest temperatures predicted for tomorrow is 20 to 22 degrees.
The good-ish news is that the rain will clear from eastern areas overnight on Thursday and it will become mainly dry with sunny spells on Friday. The highest temperatures are given as 18 to 21 degrees. Friday night will be mostly dry, but rain is predicted to develop in the west by morning, and “temperatures will start to return to more comfortable levels of between 10 and 14 degrees.”
Comfortable?!
As for the weekend itself, rain is due to spread eastwards to all areas on Saturday morning, becoming in a manner that the Met Office euphemistically describes as “persistent”.
However, during the afternoon and early evening, there should be brighter weather with scattered showers. Highest temperatures predicted are 19 to 22 degrees.
On Sunday, it’s forecast to be mainly dry with isolated showers.
So in short: the weather will be all over the place, so pack your shades, umbrella, sunscreen and Lemsip when you’re leaving the house.
