COLD nights and sunny days are forecast as the good weather looks set to continue for the Easter weekend. Met Eireann has predicted that it will be "mostly or completely dry" throughout Ireland up to Tuesday.
The clouds that usually dog the dawn of a bank holiday weekend are being kept at bay by a ridge of high pressure. Temperatures are slightly below normal, thanks to light south easterly winds, but forecasters are predicting a pleasant few days, with today looking like being the mildest.
Gardeners are warned that clear skies will mean ground frost in some parts of the country, with lowest temperatures of between minus 1 and plus 4 Celsius, rising to as high as 14 Celsius during the day.
There is a threat of some rain towards the end of weekend in parts of the north and north west. But in general the gloom of a fairly miserable March has lifted since the change to summertime added an extra hour of daylight last Sunday.
According to Met Eireann's monthly report, March had heavy rain, snow and some of the lowest temperatures in years in some parts.
The forecasters say the outlook after Tuesday looks fairly settled. "It's difficult to say really, but the indications are that the pressure will stay relatively high over most of the week."
Meanwhile, they refuse to be drawn on whether the bright spell is the start of another spectacular summer. "It's impossible to say. Cool spells could be expected at any stage, even during the summer. We can give climatological averages, but they don't make a forecast."
