It was a beautiful day in most parts yesterday but later in the day there were showers in the midlands and west, according to Met Eireann. "To have temperatures rising to 20 in the early part of May was quite welcome," a spokesman said. Eireann. "It was a beautiful day generally around the country. Many parts had very good sunshine throughout the day. The south and the south-east fared best."
It turned dull and cloudy in the afternoon in the midlands and the North. Temperatures rose to 20 Celsius in the midlands. The isolated showers, in a line from Limerick up to east Galway, Roscommon, west midlands and into Sligo, were sometimes thundery. It will be mainly dry today with warm sunshine in most areas, with isolated showers, mainly in the midlands, west and north-west. Highest temperatures will be between 17 C and 20 C, but cooler near the coasts.
AA Roadwatch said the roads were not as busy yesterday as predicted, especially after the huge movement of traffic on Friday night and Saturday. "Perhaps a lot of people took advantage of the good weather and decided to stay on for another day," a spokes woman said. "The roads were busy, but there were no bottlenecks or long delays. Quite a few people set off early in the morning on their journey home."
The road between Monasterevin and Kildare town was busy in the afternoon and there were at times two-mile tailbacks. There were al so delays from Dublin to the airport. There was heavy traffic on the N11 on both sides of Rathnew, Co Wicklow, but "nothing serious".