Temperatures hit 20 degrees in some parts of the country

Temperature hit 20 degrees in western counties on Saturday with a glorious weekend in store.

There has been summer-like conditions along the west coast and in the midlands. The temperature hit 20 degrees in Belmullet and Newport Co Mayo as well as Mt Dillon, Co Roscommon and 19 degrees in Mace Head, Co Galway and Claremorris, Co Mayo by 4pm with 18.8 degrees before midday in Valentia Observatory in Co Kerry.

There is a clear east-west divide in the weather with temperatures along the east coast five degrees cooler because of stiff onshore breezes.

It will be cold on Saturday night under clear skies with a touch of frost in places.

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Sunday will be another dry day with mostly sunny skies once again. The sunshine will turn a little hazy at times in places.

Highest temperatures will generally range from 14 to 18 degrees, highest again in the west and southwest, but a little lower again in eastern and southern coastal parts because of onshore breezes.

Monday is likely to see the last of the warm and dry weather as of late with a transition expected to cooler, showery weather from Tuesday as winds turn northerly.

Temperatures on Monday will still be a respectable 16 degrees in places, but will fall to more normal values on Tuesday and for the rest of the week.

An Garda Síochána has advised the public to plan their activities over the weekend to take account of the new limitation on non-essential travel which means that people must stay within 20km of home.

“With good weather forecast this weekend, gardaí are asking everyone to continue acting responsibly and to stay safe from Covid,” they stated on their official Twitter site.

On Saturday the Irish Coast Guard and Howth RNLI lifeboat and a rescue team brought a kite surfer to safety following an emergency call. The surfer was located about 300m off the coast at the end of Dollymount beach in Dublin. Rescue teams brought the kite surfer safely back to shore with no further assistance required.

It has been a second extraordinarily dry April in a row with rainfall levels just a fraction of what they usually are for the time of year. Dublin Airport has had just 6.9mm of rainfall in April, fewer than 15 per cent of normal levels, Cork Airport has had 15.6mm while Johnstown Castle in Co Wexford has had 2.7mm of rain.