We don’t want to get your hopes up but…

The mere sight of sunshine in the last couple of days has been enough to have Irish people falling over themselves with excitement, so we can only imagine the reaction to the prospect of the hottest month of May EVER recorded in the country occurring this month. The forecast for an extended spell of fine weather has been the source of much giddiness throughout the country and it hasn’t escaped Ladbrokes, who have only gone and offered odds on a record temperature for the month of May being recorded in Ireland this month. If the warm weather has you feeling optimistic, you can get odds of 12/1 on the current record for the month of May – a recording of 28.4°c in Ardfert in Kerry in May 1997 – being beaten this month. Ladbrokes, meanwhile, have also opened a market on this month being the warmest ever May in Dublin, offering odds of 5/1 that the average daily temperature in the capital this month will exceed 14.8°c. Going on the weather of the first couple of the days of the month and a forecast for more of where that came from, that seems well within the realms of possibility and wouldn’t we all be delighted if it ended up coming to pass. Commenting on the warm weather markets, Hayley O'Connor of Ladbrokes said: "We're barely into the first week of May and it's already a scorcher. “We've opened the book on this month's temperatures smashing record highs, which wouldn't be the worst bet to have to pay out on. When the sun shines, everyone is a winner really." Fingers crossed.