Look on the bright side, sunny forecast for weekend
With beach volley, barbecues and surfing over the past few days, Bray began to resemble Brazil, Lahinch turned into Bondi Beach and Salthill seemed like St Tropez.
But the summer dream was rudely interrupted yesterday as temperatures of 30 degrees finally gave way to the Irish weather we know all too well.
Yesterday morning, temperatures in some parts were hotter than Rome, Istanbul and New York City. But by 3pm rain was already beginning to fall in Cork, by 4pm clouds were coming in over Dublin and by nightfall the thunder began to roll.
What a difference a day makes. It’s what they call an Irish summer.
It will brighten up later on Saturday though, with sunny spells developing.
Met Eireann forecaster Michael McAuliffe said: “It will reach the mid-twenties at the weekend which would in normal circumstances seem very warm if we hadn’t had the past few days”.
But until then Mr McAuliffe said the weather is going to be more changeable. “It will be more variable with more rain and temperatures will be lower, in the early twenties. It will be quite thundery. But there will be some sunshine.”
The odd “sunny spell” among the showers is no consolation for the many who have taken last minute days off from work to enjoy the unusually high temperatures.
Director of the Small Firms’ Association, Patricia Callan said: “In general when the weather gets good people tend to request days off at short notice.”
Hotels, bars and restaurants are hoping for a good weekend to keep up the recent rise in trade.
“The good weather has been a boost for the hospitality industry. People tend to go away at short notice when they see the sunshine,” said Ms Callan.
“But it is bad news for retailers because people don’t want to be stuck indoors in shops when it’s sunny,” she added.
In true Irish fashion, we live in hope that our “variable” weather will change for the better.
If not, there’s always retail therapy.
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