High temperatures continuing through the weekend

Met Éireann continues to be the bearer of good news with predictions that temperatures could hit 25 degrees on Saturday.

Forecaster Harm Luijkx said the dry weather would continue through the weekend with only isolated showers expected in the north and west. “But these will be very isolated and the bulk of the country will remain dry for the coming days and including the weekend.”

He said it looked like the early days of next week would also remain dry “but then it looks like it could become a bit more unsettled. But that’s a bit far away. We’re not certain of it.”

Temperatures reached the low 20s in inland areas today with lower temperatures in the high teens in coastal areas around the east and south. “That same temperature regime is expected in the coming days, and perhaps even a few degrees warmer at the weekend, with possibly 25 degrees on Saturday.

He said the sunshine and lack of rain was drying out land which helped farmers. There has been a flurry of activity on farms in recent days, particularly in the south and east of the country where farmers have been taking their first cut of silage.

Teagasc director of knowledge transfer Dr Tom Kelly said the yields were back by about 30 per cent because of the bad weather in recent months. However, he said the quality of silage was very good. He said soil conditions had improved dramatically in recent days and growth was now about one week behind normal. Dr Kelly said farmers had a lot of lost ground to make up as they had to rebuild fodder supplies in preparation for next winter. However, the ground is still very wet in many parts of the north west and west where farmers cannot contemplate making silage for some time.

Dr Kelly said farmers also had to rebuild finances after spending more money than normal purchasing fodder and feed to get animals through the difficult Spring months.

He advised farmers not to delay silage cutting where grass growth is good but said every farmer should make decisions based on their own circumstances.

Today's mid-afternoon temperatures will be: Oslo 14 degrees, Vienna 15 degrees, Prague 17 degrees, Dublin 18 degrees, Sligo 21 degrees, Rome 22 degrees, Barcelona 23 degrees, Paris 24 degrees, Phoenix, Arizona 28 degrees.