A brutal weather U-turn could see thunderous downpours wreck Ireland’s 21C hot blast.
Met Eireann has warned that “weather warnings cannot be ruled out” as it looks ahead to next week.
It comes as temperatures are forecast to rise above 20C this weekend amid mostly dry and bright conditions.
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Its forecast for Saturday reads: “It looks set to be a mostly dry day on Saturday but with plenty of cloud around during the day. A few showers will develop in the afternoon. The best of the sunshine is expected in coastal areas and the evening will turn out sunny in many areas.
“Maximum temperatures of 15C to 18C with a mostly light southwest or variable breeze.”
Looking ahead to Sunday, the national forecaster continued: “There will be long spells of warm sunshine across the country on Sunday with just a small chance of an isolated shower. Top temperatures of 18C to 21C degrees generally but a little cooler in some coastal areas as sea breezes develop.”
There’s due to be a big change from next week however, with early indications suggesting that rain will extend across the country on Monday, with further spells of rain throughout next week.
While Met Eireann says that “forecasts beyond one week become increasingly uncertain due to the chaotic nature of the atmosphere”, it does make monthly predictions to help “give an insight into weather patterns in the month ahead”.
In its long-range predictions for the week of Friday, May 13 to Thursday, May 19 it says that while “there is a lot of uncertainty around rain details”, at this stage “weather warnings can’t be ruled out”.
A forecaster said: “With low pressure becoming established in the mid Atlantic and high pressure over the continent, a southerly airflow will develop over Ireland during week one. This airflow will introduce very mild or warm air for a time over Ireland, becoming humid too.
“Showers or longer spells of rain will track northwards over Ireland in the flow, with the potential for locally heavy or thundery rainfall. There is still a lot of uncertainty around the rainfall details, but warnings could not be ruled out at this stage.
“There is a signal for wetter than normal conditions for southern coastal areas, with the rest of the country signalled to be drier than normal. Temperatures will trend 2C above the norm, possibly up to 3C milder than average.”
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