From one wet weekend to another, with a little sunshine

It was a poor weekend weather-wise, and it is likely to be followed by another disappointment for sun seekers, next weekend.

That is according to the latest forecast from Met Éireann which said temperatures for the last two weeks were up to about 1.9 degrees lower than normal for this time of year, with more than the average rainfall.

On Monday, dry and bright weather with sunny spells will extend from the west throughout the early afternoon - but isolated showers will follow. Highest temperatures of 15 to 19 degrees will be below average highs of 17 to 20 degrees for this time of year.

Brisk northwest breezes will develop giving coolest conditions along Atlantic coasts.

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Tuesday is expected to be a mostly dry day with sunny spells. However, cloud will again build in the afternoon giving scattered showers, again with most of these across Atlantic counties.

Met Éireann said it would be “cool for the time of year; highest temperatures of 14 to 17 degrees in moderate, occasionally fresh, west to northwest breezes”.

Temperatures will be a little on the cool side of average early on, but becoming warm and humid later.

Wednesday will start out mostly dry with hazy sunshine in the north and east. However, it will become cloudy across the southwest and west with outbreaks of rain and drizzle moving in off the Atlantic, very gradually spreading elsewhere later. Relatively cool with highest temperatures of 14 to 17 degrees Celsius, in light to moderate southerly breezes.

The best of the weather looks set to arrive on Thursday and Friday. It is set to be dry for Thursday across most areas with warm spells of sunshine. Highest temperatures of 19 to 23 degrees Celsius, in southerly breezes. Friday should be an overall dry day, with hazy sunny spells and temperatures hitting 24 degrees in some areas.

However Met Éireann said the indications suggest temperatures will slip back again this weekend.

Joanna Donnelly, meteorologist and forecaster at Met Éireann and author of The Great Irish Weather Book cautioned against dismal summaries of the weather so far in July, in absence of the monthly summary, which is due out in a few days’ time.

Ms Donnelly said Ireland was noted for the variety in its weather, with the west - around Galway to Donegal - taking the brunt of rain and cloud from the Atlantic Ocean, while the sunny south east, around Wexford and Wicklow could generally expect to have the sunniest spells. “ We are on the north east edge of the warmest ocean, in a warm current of air, which keeps us a lot warmer than places such as Labrador and Newfoundland”, she said.

“It shouldn’t be too bad in the south of the country from Wednesday” at least until the weekend, she added.