Temperatures could soar to 26C across Ireland by Friday
With much of Europe baking under an intense heat dome, we could finally be about to see a return to blue skies and sunshine with the weather forecast for the coming week predicting highs of up to 26C by Friday.
While the picture for next weekend is a little more uncertain, Rhode weather forcecaster, Cathal Nolan, who runs Ireland's Weather Channel, says this week could as good a week as farmers are going to get to make hay!
In his later forecasting model, Cathal says total rainfall amounts for the coming week will be "very little" with temperatures expected to climb steadily as the week progresses reaching highs of 25C on Thursday and 26C on Friday.
Met Éireann's national weather outlook for the coming week is also predicting a gradual move towards warm, or even very warm, and settled weather over the coming week.
Met Éireann national outlook:
Overview: The Azores High will build this week with warm and settled weather to come. Becoming very warm or even hot from Thursday.
Tuesday night: Patchy drizzle will affect west and northwest counties but otherwise dry under broken cloud. Mild with lowest temperatures of 11 to 15 degrees in just light westerly breezes.
Wednesday: Dry, apart from isolated light showers across western and northern areas. Generally cloudy though warm sunshine will break through across east and southeast areas; warmest in these areas too. Highest temperatures of 17 to 24 degrees, in just light westerly breezes.
Thursday: A dry day for most with warm spells of sunshine, though possibly staying cloudy across north and northwest areas with the chance of a few showers. Top temperatures of 21 to 26 degrees in just light southwest or variable breezes.
Friday: A very warm or hot Continental airmass looks likely to feed up across Ireland with sunny conditions occurring widely. Top temperatures of 22 to 28 degrees generally in just light southerly breezes.
This weekend: Some uncertainty but with the potential for widespread hot sunny weather to remain.