Ahhh.... July in Ireland. What a unique time and place to be alive.

This weekend sees things return to a predictably Irish summer, with that most unspecific description, "scattered showers". Hooray! Once again we get to look in our wardrobes and spend too long trying to decide if we have anything that will stop us from sweating to death when it gets too warm, or soaking to death once the rain eventually returns. The good folks at Met Eireann have imparted their wisdom and given us the news, as follows: FRIDAY Cloudy and rainy in the morning, especially in the east, before brightening and warming up a little bit, getting as high as 18 degrees in places. That all goes down hill rapidly though, as fog and mist replace the light, and temperatures drop as low as 5 degrees overnight. SATURDAY Starts off dry enough, but early afternoon will see rain come in from the west, before it envelopes pretty much the entire country in an all-out dampness attack. Despite this, temperatures will get as high as 21 degrees in places, so we once again get to experience that most pleasant of states, hot AND wet. SUNDAY Connacht and west Ulster will continue to get on the receiving end of rainy days, while the rest of the country can expect a mixture of sunny and cloudy spells. Temperatures will be best in the south east of the country, once again getting as high as 21 degrees. EARLY NEXT WEEK Guess what? More warm rain! Monday will see things pick up ever so slightly - once again, especially in the south east - before taking a dive from Wednesday onwards when heavier rain is expected to arrive from the Atlantic and completely obliterate any memory of what the sun ever looked like.