Weather set to get warmer

WITH TEMPERATURES set to reach the high teens over the weekend and 20 degrees by Tuesday, is it finally time to dust the rust off the barbecue and swap umbrellas for parasols?

"There are still no signs of any real summer weather," John Eagleton of Met Éireann said yesterday. "People probably won't be going to the seaside or anything . . . but weather will be better than we've had.

"It will brighten up over the next few days with a few showers but there won't be deluges of rain . . . this weekend won't be a washout."

July is usually the warmest month in Ireland with average temperatures in the high teens.

"I would expect a little better weather than this for July," Mr Eagleton said, "but people forget that a cool, wet summer is part of Irish climate."

July 2007 was the wettest July for almost half a century in parts of the country and temperatures were also below average.

"Bad summers tend to come in groups and you get a run of them. It happened in the mid-1980s and is part of our climate," Mr Eagleton said.

This weekend is expected to be a mix of sunny spells and light rain with temperatures in the high teens in the south. Warm temperatures will continue on Monday with heavy showers along the western coasts.

Tuesday will be drier and brighter with temperatures in the midlands and Leinster predicted to reach 20 degrees.