Sunny weather and temperatures of 21 degrees forecast

A warm and sunny bank holiday weekend is in store across the country with temperatures reaching 21 degrees in places.

Temperatures will start to creep up from Friday with the cool north-easterly winds of recent days being replaced by warm air from the Azores.

All parts of the country with the exception of west and north-westerly coastal fringes will have a sunny weekend.

Friday will see highs of 18 degrees and it will be mostly dry. Saturday will be a brighter day with sunny spells and highs of 19 degrees.

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Sunday and Monday will see the fine weather continue and will get the warmest of the sunshine. Temperatures will be between 20 and 21 degrees in parts of the midlands and east.

Good spell

Tuesday will be the last day of the current good spell. The best weather will be in the southeast.

Current indications suggest that on Wednesday, rain will spread from the west with showers bringing cooler conditions.

The forecast is excellent news for those attending the biggest events of the bank holiday weekend: the Ed Sheeran concerts in Cork's Páirc Uí Chaoimh on Friday, Saturday and Sunday nights.

The forecast is for the fine weather to persist for all three concerts which will attract 120,000 music fans to the newly refurbished stadium.

It is also set to be fair for the Bon Secours Hospital Great Limerick Run on Sunday which is the largest participant event outside Dublin taking place in Ireland every year. About 14,200 participants are expected to take part in the three races.

The Shine a Light on Summer Festival will take place over the weekend at five lighthouses - at Fanad Head in Donegal, at Hook, the world's oldest working lighthouse in Wexford, at Loop Head and on the islands of Rathlin in the North and Valentia in the south west. Details are here: http://www.greatlighthouses.com/stories/shine-a-light-2018.

There will be talks and tours of the lighthouse.

Disruption

There will be widespread disruption on Dart and train services north of Connolly Station over the bank holiday weekends.

There will be no Dart services between Connolly and Howth/Malahide on Saturday and Sunday.

On northern commuter routes bus transfers will operate between Connolly and Malahide, with trains between Malahide and Drogheda/Dundalk, to a revised schedule.

On the Belfast Enterprise, bus transfers will operate between Connolly and Drogheda, with trains between Drogheda and Belfast.

Irish Water Safety has issued a bank holiday appeal to the public to always wear a lifejacket when boating and to ensure that children are supervised while swimming.

Despite the early summer weather, Irish Water Safety has warned that sea temperatures, at an average of 9 degrees, are too cold for an extended swim.