Hints of summer as April draws to a close

A return to the dry and warm conditions that dominated Ireland’s weather during the first half of April is on the cards for next week.

Scattered outbreaks of rain on Thursday will clear from the west on Friday morning, followed by scattered heavy showers. For eastern counties, the rain will persist through the day and will only slowly clear into the Irish Sea on Friday night.

The coming weekend will bring a good deal of dry weather away from Atlantic coastal counties, where light rain or drizzle may persist for a time during Saturday.

Scattered showers will drift into the west and northwest on Sunday.

Top temperatures over the weekend of 12 to 16C, perhaps a little higher in inland locations of the west.

High pressure will build over Ireland and Britain, dominating our weather into the start of May.

Temperatures will gradually rise from 15 to 17C early next week to 18C to 21C later in the week.

For farmers, drying conditions will improve considerably as next week progresses.