Hottest day of the year so far could be seen this weekend as temperatures are set to soar

The hottest day of the year to date could be in store with predicted highs of over 21 degrees on Saturday.

Temperatures will be notably warmer than of late and it will also be dry – a welcome development in a spring that has been much cooler and wetter than normal.

Temperatures reached 21.3 degrees on April 16th, but there is a strong possibility that could be surpassed on Saturday, said Met Éireann forecaster Brandon Creagh. The most likely locations will be in the west or midlands.

Sunday will be a cooler day with temperatures dropping back to just 15 degrees, but it will be replaced by dry, settled weather as a ridge of high pressure crosses the country.

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This will bring a lot of fine, dry weather across Ireland next week, but temperatures will be not much above normal for the time of year.

It has been a very disappointing spring to date. March was one of the wettest on record and April was very average.

Last week the Irish Farmers Association warned that poor weather was making it difficult to sow crops or erect fences around the country.

Earlier this week, Met Éireann warned of the impact that a rapid cooling of the seas around Greenland could have on Ireland’s climate.

The meltwater from the Greenland ice caps is cooling the seas and also weakening the gulf stream which the principle reason why Ireland has such a moderate maritime climate. The cool pool off the coast of Greenland is now hundreds of kilometres wide and expanding.

[ Ireland to face cooling as Gulf Stream weakens, Marine Institute warns ]

A slowing down of the gulf stream or Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation AMOC may keep temperatures in Ireland more moderate than they could expect to be in a warming world, but it will have other bad knock-on effects.

Met Éireann climatologist Dr John P Hanley said the cooling will lead to sea level rises around Ireland, and ongoing ocean acidification as a result of climate change.

“A complete showdown of the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC) is thought be very unlikely at this stage, however the recent IPCC AR6 report stated that this cannot be completely ruled out,” he said.

“An irreversible shutdown would have profound impacts on Ireland’s climate, resulting in much colder winters, warmer summers, and a possible increase in storminess.”