Warm weekend in prospect with highs of 19 degrees forecast for next week

As the St Patrick’s weekend festivities continue, warm spring sunshine is set to bask over the country with temperature expected to hit 19 degrees early next week.

Met Éireann has predicted warm spells of spring sunshine over the long weekend and into next week, with the best days expected on Saturday and Monday.

Saturday will stay dry and sunny across most areas with gusty southwest winds. Highest temperatures of 14 degrees are expected, hitting 16 degrees in the west.

Met Éireann meteorologist Emer Flood said the country is in for a “settled period thanks to high pressure in Northern Europe at the moment. That is bringing a lot of sunshine across the country today.”

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A touch of frost may occur on Saturday night but staying mostly dry with a mix of cloud and clear spells. Lowest temperature of 4 to 6 degrees are expected.

The warm spring sunshine will continue on Sunday but it will be a cooler and somewhat cloudier day. It will stay dry with sunny spells across most areas. Highest temperatures of 9 to 13 degrees with mostly moderate southeast breezes.

“That cloud in the southwest is going to become more widespread overnight tonight so that will give way to a cloudier day on Sunday. There will be an odd break of sunshine in between the cloud cover, especially for the north east. . . but it won’t be quite as warm [on Sunday]”.

The best weather will be next week with temperature reaching the high teens, warmest in the west of the country. Monday will be a warm, dry day with spring sunshine across the whole country. Scattered showers may occur in the morning, breaking towards the afternoon with a top temperature of 17 degrees expected.

It will be coolest in the east of the country due to southeast breezes, and warmest in the west.

Ms Flood said: “The dry sunny weather will be around for much of next week. It looks like it will be warmest heading into mid-week.

“Western parts of Connacht will have the warmest weather on Monday, again coolest in the east but from Tuesday onwards those temperatures reaching into the mid teens will be a bit more widely felt across the country with highs of 13 to 17 degrees.”

As the week progresses, the weather will continue to improve. Tuesday and Wednesday could see temperatures hitting 19 degrees with warm spring sunshine across the whole country, and warmest in the west.

“It is looking like there will be good sunny spells for Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. I think 18 degrees is possible and 19 degrees will be very localised but definitely not out of the question in areas with good spells of sunshine,” said Ms Flood.