Sunny spells and scattered showers forecast for weekend

The weekend is set for drier conditions with some showers forecast as more than 80,000 people are expected to attend U2’s sold-out concert in Croke Park on Saturday.

Saturday and Sunday will see sunny spells and scattered showers, with the west and north of the country experiencing the most rainfall.

A Met Éireann forecaster told The Irish Times: "The weekend will see an improvement in conditions. Since rain started on Thursday evening we've had at least 36mm of rainfall in Shannon Airport and there's over 24mm in Knock Airport, then in parts of the east of the country, there's been 21mm. So there's been quite a lot of rain."

In terms of conditions in Dublin on Saturday night, the forecaster said it is due to remain dry with the risk of “the odd shower”.

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Friday

There will be rain in north Ulster, Connacht and west Munster in the morning with drier conditions and sunny spells elsewhere. Heavy and prolonged showers will hit the western half of the country by the afternoon. Highest temperatures will be between 14 and 17 degrees with some strong winds along the west coast at times. Friday night will become mostly dry in the east and north with good clear spells. However, rain is likely to continue in the west and south before clearing to isolated showers by Saturday morning.

Saturday

Saturday is due to be a brighter and drier day with scattered showers and good sunny spells.

Top temperatures will be between 16 and 19 degrees with some light variable breezes.

“Saturday will be a warmer day. There will be a few showers still in the south and in the north and a few scattered showers across the country. So it will be sunshine and scattered showers on Saturday but none of them that heavy,” Met Éireann said.

Gates open at 5pm on Saturday for U2 while no queuing is allowed prior to that. Support comes from Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds from 7pm. U2 are expected onstage at 8.30pm. Organisers advise that guests either walk, cycle or use public transportation to get to Croke Park as there is very limited car parking in the area and traffic will be especially heavy. The Garda has provided further information on how to get to the concert using public transport here.

Meanwhile, the new Pairc Ui Chaoimh opens its gates on Saturday at 3pm when Clare take on reigning All-Ireland champions Tipperary in the All-Ireland hurling quarter-finals.

Cork will take on Mayo in Round 4A of the All-Ireland Senior Football Championship at 4pm (Gaelic Grounds), followed by Galway versus Donegal at 7pm (Markievicz Park). Both will be shown on Sky Sports.

Sunday

There will be isolated showers on Sunday with some sunny spells. It will get slightly milder as top temperatures reach between 18 and 21 degrees with light to moderate breezes. It will stay mostly dry on Sunday night with lowest temperatures around 11 to 14 degrees.

“There will be sunshine and just a few showers but mostly dry on Sunday. Temperatures increase that little bit further on Sunday, they’ll get up to around 20 or 21 degrees in places,” Met Éireann said.

Wexford take on Waterford in the All-Ireland Senior Championship hurling quarter-finals at 4pm at Pairc Ui Chaoimh (RTE1). It’s expected that both quarter-finals could be a sell-out, with the new stadium seating 45,000.