Offaly hot weekend as mercury to hit 26 degrees!

Parts of Offaly could swelter in temperatures of a whopping 26 degrees on Friday afternoon.

Met Eireann is predicting that the temperatures could touch 26 degrees between 3pm and 5pm on Friday in parts of the county.
In general, the west and south of the county will experience the best weather over the coming days, with temperatures possibly reaching up to 26 degrees in the Birr area.
Nationally, Friday will continue very warm with good sunny spells. 
It will be mostly dry in the east, however, there will be some showers in the west and they could turn heavy and possibly thundery later in the day. Highest temperatures 21 to 27 degrees, but a few degrees lower along south and southeast coasts in onshore moderate southeasterly breezes. 
Temperatures rose on Thursday throughout the morning and reached up to 24 degrees in Birr around 4pm. It was cooler in Tullamore and Edenderry.
The fine weather will continue into Saturday with temperatures reaching around 22 degrees before cooler but still mild weather prevails on Sunday.
For next week, the outlook is more mixed with temperatures falling, and cloudy, showery weather forecast. The mercury will fall to 17 or 18 degrees in many places.