Finally, we get the outdoor summer we need
THE country flocked outdoors en masse yesterday as the mercury rose to record levels.
Met Éireann confirmed yesterday was officially the hottest day of the year as temperatures soared to a sweltering 29.3 degrees in Athenry, Co. Galway.
Temperatures also reached 28.2C at Mount Dillon in Roscommon, surpassing the previous 25.6 degree-high of the year at Dublin’s Phoenix Park on June 13.
And things got even hotter across the border, with the British Met Office confirming 31.2 degrees were recorded in Ballywatticock in Co. Down, the highest temperature ever recorded in the North.
Deputy Chief Medical Officer Dr Ronan Glynn had urged people to meet outdoors where possible. And it appears most of the country took him at his word as hundreds of thousands of people flocked to beaches and parks to bask in the beautiful sunshine.
The unusually hot weather is expected to last until Wednesday or Thursday.
The national forecaster said today will be dry, with good spells of sunshine, although there will be a bit more cloud around, bringing the chance of an isolated thundery shower during the evening over the southern half of the country.
Met Éireann said it would be: ‘Very warm, with highs of 23 to 27 degrees generally, but cooler in the northwest and along eastern coasts with highs there of 18 to 22 degrees.’
Monday will be dry in most areas, but a few localised showers may break out over the south of the country with temperatures of 22 to 27 degrees forecast.
Met Éireann said Tuesday will be another ‘mostly dry and sunny day’. It warned ‘some cloud will bubble up in the afternoon and a localised thundery shower or two may break out during the evening’, but overall it will be very warm again in most places, with temperatures rising to between 23 to 27 degrees.
It gave a similar forecast for Wednesday, with the mercury rising to 28 degrees in places.
The wave of warm weather over the last few days has been brought on by high pressure moving up from the Azores.
Also known as an Azores High, the large tropical atmospheric high-pressure develops over a subtropic in the Atlantic Ocean.
It takes its name from the Portuguese archipelago in the middle of the Atlantic.
Right now, Ireland is hotter than several other traditional sun spots.
At lunchtime yesterday, the temperature in Rome was 25 degrees, while Paris was 22 degrees. The highest temperature ever recorded in Ireland was 33.38 degrees at Kilkenny Castle, on June 26, 1887.