Long spells of “late summer sunshine” to continue next week

The forecast for this weekend and next week isn't looking too bad at all.

Met Éireann has said that we can expect the weather next week to feature some sunny spells as summer starts to wind down. The national forecaster confirmed that yesterday was the hottest day of August, with temperatures reaching 26 degrees in some places. While it's unlikely to be as warm as it was yesterday, Met Éireann has said that we may expect pleasant weather during the final week of the meteorological summer. This weekend will see temperatures in the high teens and early twenties, and sunny spells will stick around throughout next week. Meteorologist Paul Downes said: "With high pressure firmly in place over Ireland, low pressure systems are being kept well away, maintaining the dry, warm and settled period. "A weakening cold front to the northeast of Ireland will track close to eastern coasts tonight and tomorrow, introducing a slightly cooler east to northeasterly airflow for Friday and the weekend." Mr Downes added: "Temperatures will still be in the high teens to low twenties generally through the weekend with good sunny spells for the most part giving a very pleasant end to the summer." According to Met Éireann, next week's sunny days can be attributed to "development in the Atlantic region", which can have "knock on effects" in northern Europe. The forecaster explained: "While there is currently no indication that developing storms may impact Ireland directly next week, the indirect implications can alter our weather patterns, as tropical systems take heat from the warm sea surfaces of the tropics, and release it into the atmosphere. "This acts to nudge the flow and alter the speed of the jet stream, which would influence our weather patterns for northern Europe."