The Irish summer is back – mercury to plummet and showers forecast

While Europe swelters in a near-record heatwave, people in Ireland will be reaching for their jumpers with temperatures set to plummet by 8C over the next 72 hours.

Temperatures in some parts of Ireland will drop to 14C, the coldest it has been for almost two months.

The August bank holiday weekend sunshine and balmy conditions will prove nothing more than a fond memory as Ireland braces itself for cloudy conditions, scattered showers and chilly temperatures as an Atlantic front dominates the weather over the coming week.

Today will offer the best of the weather conditions but temperatures will still slide from 25C down to around 19C, though parts of Connacht and Ulster will see a chilly maximum of 15C.

Tomorrow may also see some spells of sunshine, but with the risk of showers, some of which could prove exceptionally heavy.

Met Éireann warned that from this evening chilly conditions and showers will slowly begin to dominate Ireland’s weather.

Temperatures on Thursday will reach a maximum of only 17C in Leinster, with other parts of Ireland facing a bracing maximum of only 14C.

Overnight temperatures will slide to only 7C in some places.

However, it is the showers that will be the dominant feature of the week with rain, including some heavy showers, forecast from this evening right through until Friday, when there will be rain and blustery winds.

Ban

Next weekend also looks likely to be dominated by showers, some of which could prove quite heavy.

While the showers will come as a welcome boost to Irish Water and local authorities, there is no sign the hosepipe ban will be relaxed before the end of August.

Irish Water warned that substantial sustained rainfall is still needed to replenish water supplies nationwide. The scale of the summer-long drought is underlined by the fact one of Ireland’s biggest rivers, the Blackwater in north Cork, can now be crossed in Fermoy via its weir, which has been totally exposed by low water levels.

Streams, rivers, lakes and reservoirs remain at very low levels due to the exceptionally dry conditions in June and July.

Restrictions on water use, aimed at preserving reserves, are expected to remain in place for several weeks.

Farm groups warned that the impact of desperately needed rain for crops could be undermined by colder temperatures which could inhabit grass and crop growth.

Fodder yields are already substantially down on 2017 levels.

Farm groups warned that prices for hay and silage have already soared across Ireland.

Fears are now mounting that even potential fodder imports could be hit given severe drought conditions in the UK and across Europe.