High pressure to bring extended period of settled weather

It will turn drier and warmer from this weekend as high pressure builds over Ireland.

Temperatures could hit the high teens in places by the middle of next week as mild southeasterly winds are drawn in from the continent.

Largely settled conditions could persist into the second week of April as high pressure becomes anchored over Scandinavia with a secondary blocking high building from the west.

In the meantime, rain will extend across Ireland from the northwest this afternoon. It will become patchier as it does so leading to lower precipitation amounts further east and south.

It will be very breezy during the day with strong gusts of more than 60 to 65 km/h in exposed coastal spots of the west and northwest.

A clearance to showers of rain and hail will follow into the northwest overnight and through Friday. Some of the showers on Friday morning could be thundery across north Connacht and Ulster.

After a cold start to Friday morning with the chance of a slight frost in sheltered inland locations of the Midlands and Ulster, daytime temperatures will rise to between 6 and 9 °C. It will feel bitterly cold in a moderate to fresh northwest wind.

Following a cold and frosty beginning to Saturday, it will turn milder during the day as a weak warm front introduces scattered outbreaks of light rain across Ireland during the morning and early afternoon. The day will be generally overcast.

Rainfall totals over the next 48 hours will be highest in northwestern coastal counties (10-15 mm) and lowest in the south and east of Ireland (3-5 mm)

Drier and brighter weather will take hold from Sunday as high pressure builds over Ireland from the south.

High pressure will eventually build and become anchored to the northeast of Britain by Tuesday, with winds shifting to a milder, if not warmer southeasterly airflow.

Temperatures could reach 18 to 20 °C by Wednesday or Thursday.

Ireland’s weather looks rather blocked out to the end of next week and into the following week, although Atlantic low-pressure systems may bring overcast conditions with light rain in the south and southwest by next weekend.

There are weak signals that colder conditions could develop in two weeks’ time, as a north to northeasterly airflow develops over Ireland.