Sultry September with temperatures to top 25 degrees this week!

Temperatures could climb as high as 27 degrees tomorrow (Tuesday) as September gets off to a summery start.

Met Eireann said the unusually warm conditions for this time of year were being caused by an area of low pressure to the west of Spain which had allowed very warm air from North Africa to push up across Ireland.

As of lunchtime today it had already reached 20 degrees at the Met Eireann weather station in Mullingar, and temperatures were expected to climb by another couple of degrees later this afternoon.

Tomorrow will be the hottest day of the week, with the mercury expected to reach, and possibly exceed, the mid-twenties during the afternoon.

Wednesday will be another warm day, with temperatures ranging from 20 to 24 degrees, but showers will become more persistent as the day goes on and it will then become more unsettled for the second half the week.