Ireland enjoys hottest day of 2017 as temperatures reach 26.8

Ireland basked in the hottest day of 2017 on Saturday with temperatures of 26.8 degrees recorded in Dublin's Phoenix Park.

The good weather is set to continue in many parts on Sunday with temperatures of between 22 and 26 degrees expected.

However, the northwest of the country is expected to remain cloudy with some patches of drizzle for a time.

The best of Sunday’s sunny spells will be in the midlands, east and south. Sunday night will bring dry weather with clear skies. The northern half of the country will experience further cloud cover.

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It will also be dry in most areas on Monday and Tuesday although there will be some cloud at times and the slight chance of a few isolated showers.

The warm spell is being driven tropical air from Iberia. Officials in Spain and Portugal have issued weather warnings with temperatures there set to exceed 42 degrees over the weekend.

Britain has also experienced an exceptionally warm weekend.

Temperatures peaked at 30.2 degrees in Teddington and are expected to continue rising into the low 30s into early next week.

Met Office forecaster Charles Powell said: “We have seen the hottest day of the year so far.

"Sunday and Monday will see repeat performances of Saturday, with a lot of England and Wales seeing dry, sunny, warm, humid weather with high UV, high pollen.

“The temperature though is creeping up a little bit day on day, so we will probably see 31 degrees maybe 32 degrees on Sunday, and maybe 33 degrees on Monday, probably in similar sort of areas – south-east England, Greater London.”

Additional reporting PA