It is warm – but temperatures are unlikely to set a record for October, Met Éireann has said.
The national forecaster said Ireland is enjoying warm air coming to us from the Canaries as the island lies sandwiched between an area of high temperature centred on the northern Italy – eastern France area of the Alps, and an area of low pressure in the North Atlantic.
“It is nearly a record, it is tantalisingly close but the cloud and hazy conditions will probably prevent the sun from bursting through, and where it does it will be quite localised” said Met Éireann meteorologist Liz Walsh.
The record for high temperature at the start of October was 25.2 degrees, noted at Clongowes Wood College, Co Kildare, on October 3rd, 1908. Temperatures on Saturday were reaching about 21 at midday on Saturday.
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But Ms Walsh said while temperatures might rise to about 23 degrees on Sunday and even on Monday, the expectation was that it would not exceed the 1908 record.
By Wednesday temperatures should be dropping back, feeling much cooler at 13 to 14 degrees. October usually starts out warm and gets much cooler towards the end of the month so the average will probably be around normal.
“But certainly, the weekend temperatures are five to six degrees above normal”, said Ms Walsh.
The weekend is likely to remain cloudy but with spells of hazy sunshine developing in some areas. It is expected to remain warm and humid with highest temperatures of 17 to 22 degrees, reaching 23 on Sunday, with a light to moderate southerly breeze.
The outlook for the coming week is for warm and humid weather on Monday with a spell of wet weather on Tuesday night and Wednesday will be followed by cooler and fresher conditions.
Wednesday morning is expected to start off wet in most areas, with some heavy falls of rain in places. The rain should gradually clear south-eastwards through the morning and early afternoon, with sunny spells and isolated showers following. It is expected to feel cooler and fresher than recent days with afternoon temperatures between 10 and 14 degrees, which is average for this time of year.
