A warm weekend is in store across the country with temperatures gradually rising into next week.
Saturday and Sunday are promised to be dry and sunny nearly everywhere, save for a few showers in the northwest, and it will feel warm and pleasant in the sunshine with temperatures of up to 23 degrees.
Met Éireann forecaster Ailís Hankinson said this weekend marks the beginning of a “warming trend” with high pressure building from the southeast bringing drier weather and sunshine.
There is a possibility of some thunderstorms on Monday, but they should clear away, giving rise to a warm and sunny second half of the week.
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Monday will have temperatures of between 20 and 25 degrees, with the warmest weather in the east and southeast, a pattern which will remain for the rest of the week.
“High pressure is building us from the southeast bringing drier weather and sunshine,” she said.
“There is quite a bit of uncertainty in the details, but, towards the end of next week, we will see temperatures up to the mid- or high 20s in places, though there is likely to be some showers associated with the warm weather.”
It should be dry for the big concerts over the weekend. Metal behemoths Metallica are playing separate sets on Friday and Sunday night in the Aviva Stadium as part of their M72 world tour.
The band and its foundation, All Within My Hands, is encouraging its Irish fans to give blood over the weekend.
Irish Blood Transfusion Service director Sharon Ryan described it as a “fantastic and unique way for us to get the message to people about how important it is to give blood”.
The other big concerts over the weekend are Kodaline at Malahide Castle on Saturday night and Olivia Dean brings her Art of Loving Live tour to Dublin’s Marlay Park on Sunday evening.
Leinster will hope to make up for the disappointment of being routed in the Champions Cup Final by Bordeaux last month.
The big GAA games of the weekend are the hurling quarter-finals between Clare and Dublin in FBD Semple Stadium on Saturday, followed by Cork v Offaly at the same venue on Sunday.
In football, the last round of qualifiers, Kerry v Armagh in Fitzgerald Stadium and Mayo v Meath in MacHale Park, will take place on Saturday.
On Sunday, it will be a last chance for Dublin, who take on Donegal in Croke Park, while Monaghan play Westmeath in Clones.
