Busy roads and mixed weather for weekend

AA Roadwatch has reminded motorists travelling this holiday weekend to think safety. With the good weather and big sporting events, traffic is bound to be heavy.

"The busy periods are between early afternoon and early evening on Friday, all day Saturday and again from mid afternoon and early evening on Monday coming back to Dublin," said Emma Caulfield of AA Roadwatch.

"Our advice is to avoid these peak times and if you are taking to the road to give yourself plenty of extra time for your journey."

The Galway races continue until Sunday at Ballybrit, and will severely hamper traffic on all main routes to Galway particularly the Dublin Road and the Tuam Road, while the Witnness music festival takes place at the Fairyhouse Racecourse Co Meath on Saturday and Sunday. Large crowds are expected and big delays are inevitable approaching from Ratoath and on the N2 and N3 coming from Dublin.

The All-Ireland football quarter-finals also take place this weekend, with resulting traffic tailbacks on the roads into the venues. The matches are: Kerry v Dublin in Thurles, Co Tipperary at 3 p.m. on Saturday; Roscommon v Galway at Castlebar, Co Mayo at 6.15 p.m. on Saturday; Tyrone v Derry at Clones, Co Monaghan at 2.30 p.m. on Sunday; and Meath v Westmeath at Croke Park, Dublin at 4.20 p.m. on Sunday.

Road safety is a major concern on any Bank Holiday Weekend, but the August weekend has historically been one of the worst periods for the tragedy of road deaths. With this in mind, AA Roadwatch are reminding motorists travelling think safety first - 'slow down, wear your seat belt and take breaks if you're driving long distances'.

"Road safety is a serious concern on long weekends," said Ms Caulfield. "Many of us will be driving long distances that we are not accustomed to. The best advice is to take it easy, respect speed limits and do not try to make up time lost in the tailbacks on the open road."

Bus Éireann, meanwhile, expects to carry up to 100,000 passengers on Expressway and provincial services over the weekend.

On Friday 3rd August and Saturday 4th August both bus and rail services will operate on normal weekday timetables, with additional buses as required on all major routes.

On Sunday 5th August the services will operate as normal with some alterations and cancellations. On Monday 6th August the services will operate as on Sunday with a number of alterations, and extra services to cater for people returning to the main centres on Monday evening.

According to a spokeswoman for Met Éireann, the weather for the weekend will be our usual changeable mix. "It will not be a heatwave. It will be 17-20 degrees by day, which is close to normal for this time of year," she said.

There will be both sunshine and showers tomorrow. On Sunday there will be rain rising up over the country from the south west. It will be back to showery and breezy weather on Monday.

The pollen count for the weekend is moderate, while the sunburn index is medium.