Good weather comes to an end with rain and thunderstorms here for weekend

The rain has returned to many parts of the country after an extended period of dry weather, with scattered showers and thunderstorms set to continue over the weekend.

Ireland saw an extended period of warm weather over the past two weeks, with the hottest day of the year so far being recorded on Tuesday when the mercury topped 28.8 degrees in Carlow.

Paul Downes, a forecaster with Met Éireann, said showery outbreaks will extend to most parts of the country on Friday.

“Showers will turn heavy throughout the afternoon and evening, with isolated thunderstorms possible,” he said. However, temperatures will remain warm, with highs of up to 25 degrees possible.

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“The scattered thundershowers look set to continue over night, but will be mixed with some clear spells also. Along with that, there will be some mist and fog in places.”

On Saturday, heavy rain showers or thunderstorms are predicted with potential for localised flooding, along with some sunny spells. Highest temperatures will be between 18 and 23 degrees.

“Surface water flooding will be possible where the most intense storms and showers develop, mainly over the midlands and west of the country,” Mr Downes added.

“Sunday will be another quite showery day, with some sunny spells mixed in. Thunderstorms and surface water flooding will again be possible.”

Highest temperatures of 18 to 22 degrees in light to moderate south-easterly winds are forecast for Sunday.

Looking ahead to next week, it will be marginally cooler but with still above average temperatures with further showers, and some thunderstorms. Surface water flooding will remain a risk.

On Monday and Tuesday there will be frequent showers, though the showers are forecast to be a “little less intense” than those experienced over the weekend. Tuesday will be a little bit cooler than recent days, with highs of up to 20 degrees.

“Similar conditions are expected throughout the rest of the week, however there are signs there could be longer spells of rain towards the end of the week,” Mr Downes added.

Global temperatures

Meanwhile, average global temperatures at the start of June were the warmest ever recorded for the period, topping previous records by a “substantial margin”, according to the European Union’s climate monitoring unit.

The unseasonably warm June temperatures follow a May during which sea-surface temperatures were at “unprecedented levels” for the time of year.

Researchers at the EU’s Copernicus unit reported that the start of June saw global surface air temperatures rise 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels for the first time, the threshold governments said they would try to stay within at a 2015 summit in Paris.

“The world has just experienced its warmest June on record, following a month of May that was less than 0.1 degrees cooler than the warmest May on record,” said Samantha Burgess, deputy director of the Copernicus Climate Change Service.

“Monitoring our climate is now more important than ever to determine how often and for how long global temperatures are exceeding 1.5 degrees.”