Sun cream and ice cream sales soar as sunny weather continues

Supermarkets must be like the cats who have got the double cream as sun-sweltered revellers are not only soothing their skin with the factor 30 but also their hungry bellies with a cold cone.

Tesco yesterday revealed that sales of sun cream have risen by 305% this week while ice-cream sales have shot up by 54%.

The latter statistic is backed up by dessert maker HB which said it expected to sell an ice-cream every two seconds if the figures from last year’s hot summer were anything to go by.

With many of its inmates only having a restricted time to enjoy the summer weather, the Irish prison service has also ensured it is bringing a flavour of the season to the cells by placing an order for 200,000 125ml tubs of vanilla ice cream.

The order, which was published yesterday, is expected to provide prisoners with sufficient supplies for the next 12 months. The tender shows half of the 200,000 tub strong vanilla ice-cream order will be consumed by prisoners in Mountjoy and other prisons in the Dublin region.

The service is seeking 50,000 tubs for prisoners in Portlaoise and the Midlands prisons with 25,000 tubs for prisoners in Cork and Limerick with an additional 25,000 tubs for the prisoners in the north west.

Temperatures peaked around the 30°C mark yesterday, provoking a yellow weather warning from Met Éireann due to the high heat. Anything over 28°C requires an alert.

Today the temperature is set to drop significantly, though there will still be highs of around 23°C particularly for Leinster and Munster. For Connacht and Ulster, though, the max could be as low as 16°C.

While the temperatures are set to stay in the mid-20s or below over the weekend, the good news is that sunny weather is set to remain to varying degrees — depending on where you are in the country — until at least next Monday.