High pressure on weather to hang about

The weather people call them "blocking highs" and we want them to hang around if Ireland is to continue enjoying the glorious weather that's been on offer in recent days.

Sultry conditions are guaranteed until the weekend, thanks to these high pressure zones hanging off the north coast, forbidding the arrival of more malevolent weather systems.

Temperatures dropped slightly yesterday to about 23 or 24 degrees in most parts, from a high of just over 27 in Mayo on Tuesday. But then these are just degrees of satisfaction. Such was the excitement caused by what everyone hopes is the onset of an incredible summer, the Irish Prison Service put in an order for 200,000 tubs of vanilla ice cream to satisfy the country's 4,000 inmates over the next 12 months.

The current weather should hold until Saturday or Sunday.

"Beyond that it gets a little less certain but any deterioration will be slow," said Gerald Fleming, Met Éireann's chief forecaster. "Yesterday and today represent the warmest days of the year so far and in some summers you wouldn't get this at all so to get them so early is a definite bonus."

It’s not all good though: the north and northwest of the country are in for lower temperatures and cloudy conditions today, while the rest of the country may also notice a drop.

With thousands flocking to favourite coastal sunspots yesterday, neither gardaí nor the Coast Guard reported any major incidents although spot searches were being conducted at Howth Dart station.

Meanwhile, hundreds of householders across Donegal had their water cut off last night due to the dry spell. The county council said restrictions were being put in place during off-peak periods.