Brief flirtation with sunshine at an end - for now

It might be a bit soon to find permanent homes for the suncreams and shorts hurriedly pressed into service over the weekend when much of the country got a taste of elusive sunshine.

Normal service seemed to be restored today with grey skies and showers making a return and our brief flirtation with good weather at an end.

Met Éireann is predicting unsettled weather for the week with cooler than normal temperatures for this time of year.

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Taking photographs by the river Liffey in Dublin today.Photograph: Eric Luke/The Irish Times

Tomorrow will start sunny and dry in most areas but heavy showers will start in the West and spread to other parts of the country during the day bringing hail and thunder with them. Tomorrow night will be cold, with temperatures falling as low as 4 degrees in some areas.

Met Éireann weather forecaster Harm Luijkx would not be drawn into speculating about what kind of summer to expect.

“Long range forecasts are too difficult to predict. It’s impossible to call beyond a certain amount of days because you can’t really know what will happen in between and what will develop,” he said.

Mr Luijkx said the unseasonably cold temperatures have been caused by winds coming from the north west.

“On average in our climate the predominate wind direction would be south westerly and in that case you get milder air... It’s just the way the atmosphere is shaped at the moment. This is giving the cold air.”

On a cheerier note, Mr Luijkx said the coming weekend “didn’t look too bad” with high pressure building to the west of the country set to bring dry weather. The cool winds will remain, however, so while it will feel pleasant in the sunshine, it will continue to feel cold in the shade.

The UK met office provides a 30 day outlook and a spokeswoman said much of their predictions could be applied to Ireland.

She said temperatures will be colder than normal for the month of June because of the north westerly winds predicted for much of the month. Otherwise, she said, conditions will be “much the same” as they expect for this time of year - the old reliable mix of sunny spells and showers.