Here comes the sun again! Kilkenny to bask in 20C temperatures this weekend

KILKENNY will bask in glorious sunshine this weekend with mercury levels rising to as high as 20 degrees today and tomorrow, according to Met Éireann.

The national forecaster said today will start off cloudy, but it will gradually brighten up with sunny spells and a few showers developing in the evening.

Met Éireann said: “A warm day with highest temperatures of 16 to 20 degrees, warmest in the southeast and mostly light west to northwest breezes.”

Tomorrow will be mild and humid, with “a good deal of cloud and a little patchy light rain or drizzle at times”.

But there’ll also be some bright and sunny intervals, with temperatures of up to 20 degrees with light to moderate westerly breezes.

On Sunday morning there may be some rain in parts of Kilkenny and Leinster, but the rest of the day will be fresh and bright with more sunny spells.

However, temperatures are set to drop again in the early part of next week. The forecast for Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday is colder and more unsettled, with bands of rain or showers spreading eastwards across the country.

Long term, it appears we’re unlikely to bask in the heatwave conditions we enjoyed 12 months ago, according to a long-range forecaster.

Prof Peter O’Donnell said: “The key word is average – most indications are that the current rather featureless and bland weather pattern will continue to be the background theme, so June and possibly July temperatures will remain quite close to average and so will rainfall, although there may be one or two places seeing quite an isolated heavy downpour at some point in that kind of scenario.

“Then I believe that a warmer trend will set in for August and early September which may be warmer than average and reasonably dry with the possibility of isolated heavy thunderstorm rainfalls.

“At this point I don’t think it will be a lot different from the long-term averages but that may make for a reasonably pleasant summer.”