‘No scorching’ bank holiday weekend ahead, Met Éireann says

The bank holiday weekend is set to be warm in most places but there will be no return to the heatwave that delighted many earlier in the summer.

Saturday and Sunday will be dry in most places with sunny spells in many areas especially in the midlands, east and south. Temperatures will be slightly above average at between 19 and 21 degrees on Saturday and could hit 23 degrees on Sunday.

Northwestern and northern areas, however, will be cloudier with spots of mist and drizzle.

Monday will again by dry in most areas with sunny spells in the east and south and temperature values will be similar to Sunday.

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Met Éireann forecaster Joanna Donnelly said "good Irish summer weather" would start on Thursday with temperatures rising to up to 24 degrees due to a warm and humid air mass.

“There is no scorching weekend (ahead). It will be pleasant too for the north and northwest so long as they are not expecting much sunshine,” she said. “There is not a lot of sunshine for the whole of the country. It is rather cloudy.”

Ms Donnelly said the forecast for next week was uncertain at this time as the high pressure which will bring the fine bank holiday weekend weather is not a “blocking high”. This means it could be susceptible to Atlantic fronts bringing wind and rain.

The temperatures in Ireland are in marked contrast to the heatwave in southern Spain and Portugal where temperatures have been rising above 40 degrees. They could reach up to 47 degrees on Thursday and may even break the highest temperature ever recorded in Europe, which was 48 degrees in Athens in 1977.

Ms Donnelly said the plume of hot air causing the searing temperatures in the Iberian peninsula is to the east of Ireland.