Weekend heatwave brought year's best weather

A mini-heatwave across much of Ireland yesterday brought the highest temperatures of the year to date.

Met Éireann's meteorological station at Clones, Co Monaghan, recorded temperatures in excess of 25 degrees during the afternoon, which it said were the highest of 2002 so far.

For many areas, the weekend provided the first period of prolonged sunshine this summer."Most places had nice weather on two out of three days," said Met Éireann forecaster Dr Aidan Nulty.

"On balance the bulk of the country had a fine weekend, and yesterday, on balance, would have been the best day of the weekend."

Yesterday also proved to be very humid.

"In the west, you had about 85 to 90 per cent humidity, which is quite high with temperatures over 20 degrees," said Dr Nulty.

In Dublin, humidity was measured at 61 per cent, which also created close conditions, with temperatures of almost 23 degrees at Baldonnel.

No sooner had the good weather arrived, however, but storm clouds brewed over the Atlantic.

Rain and drizzle hit the west coast yesterday evening, and was due to move across the country today.

"It will probably not be all that heavy but it will be a big change from the weekend," said Dr Nulty.

The rain is expected to clear by tomorrow night. Most of the country can then expect a changeable but mainly dry Wednesday, Thursday and Friday.

"It should be a little less humid for the rest of the week. Some people will be glad to hear that.

"It could pick up again at the end of the week but it's a bit early to say that yet," he added.

Weather data from Met Éireann show how some parts of the country fared better than others over the weekend.

On Sunday, for instance, Cork Airport saw 1.3 mm of rain and just 20 minutes of sunshine, while Dublin Airport saw just 0.1 mm of rain and 8½ hours of sunshine.